The Mollusks and Brachiopods of the Bahama 

 Expedition of the State University of Iowa. 



BY WILLIAM HEALEY DALL, A. M., 



Honorary Curator Dept. of Mollusks U. S. Nat. Mus. Paleontolo- 

 gist to the U. S. Geological Survey. 



At the request of Prof. Nutting I undertook to examine and 

 name the Mollusks collected by the Bahama expedition. 

 These proved to be quite interesting. The shallow water 

 fauna of the Bahamas is pretty thoroughly known, since for 

 more than two centuries these islands have been noted for their 

 shells, which have formed a more or less constant article of 

 commerce. No monograph covers the fauna, and the most 

 complete list yet made (in which, however, synonymy is not 

 attempted) is included in my "List of Marine Mollusca from 

 American localities between Cape Hatteras and Cape Roque, 

 including the Bermudas," 1 which forms an index to the chief 

 sources of information in the literature; though doubtless 

 many species described without locality or with wrong locali- 

 ties, or in publications not nominally relating to this region, 

 should be added to those therein enumerated. 



The original collections from the Strait of Florida and the 

 Pourtales Plateau, obtained by the Coast Survey expeditions of 

 1864-7, were sent to Chicago, where Dr. Wm. Stimpson was 

 engaged in preparing a report upon them when the great fire 

 of 187 1 destroyed his manuscripts and the collections upon 

 which they were based, including the unique Haliotis, Both- 

 rocorbula and many other gems of the sea which have not yet 



1 Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey, No. 24, Washington, the Survey, 18S5, 8° pp. 

 33 6 - 



