51 



DESCEIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF ENGINA FROM THE 

 LOYALTY ISLANDS. 



By James Cosmo Melvill, M.A., F.L.S., etc. 



Read December 8th, 1893. 



Engina zateicitjm, n.sp. 



Testa ovata, obesa, crassa, ad apicem sicut ad basem rotundato- 

 pyramidali, anfractibns 5-6, undique spiraliter transverso-sulcatis, 

 bninneo et albo reticulato-pictis, longitudinaliter noduloso-costatis, 

 nodulis infra suturas conspicuis, albis, apertura angusta, ad medium 

 miiltum contracta, labro exteriore gibboso, incrassato, denticulate, 

 intus columellarem apud marginem crassi-striato. Long. 13-5, 

 lat. 9 mm. Mah. — Lifu, Loyalty Islands (Rev. James Hadfield). 



Shell ovate, obese and of thick substance, parti-coloured, roundly 

 pyramidal both towards the apex and base, whorls 5 or 6, spirally 

 grooved throughout with network of brown and white painting ; 

 longitudinally nodulous-ribbed, the nodules below the sutures rounded, 

 conspicuous, white, and the interstices dark chocolate-brown, giving 

 the semblance of areolation ; the aperture is narrow, contracted in the 

 middle, outer lip gibbous, denticulate, the inner lip thickly striato- 

 sulcate. 



The specific name is the Greek (^a-rpUiov, chess, from ^. 



the areolate appearance. 



This pretty species is one of the more striking of 

 several new shells forwarded last year (1892) by the 

 Eev. J. Hadfield, of Lifu, to Mr. R. D. Darbishire and 

 Mr. Moss, that I have for some months been engaged 

 in working out, with the aid of Mr. R. Standen, of 

 Owens' College Museum, Manchester. _ Engina zatricimn, 



Its nearest allies are E. fusiformis (Pease) and E. n.sp. 



Bonasia (v. Mart.), from' Ceylon and Mauritius 

 respectively, these two being probably forms of one species, and 

 differing mainly in coloration — the former being orange, much 

 variegated with white ; the latter amber-brown, similarly white 

 spotted or variegated. From these E. zatric-mm differs in several 

 particulars, such as in its much greater rotundity of form, 

 almost uninterrupted broad median transverse band of brown, lip 

 more or less white and not produced at the base, nodules rounded, 

 not aculeate. It is possible, however, that subsequent research may 

 discover intermediate examples, linking this more closely to E. 

 fusiformis. 



