﻿378 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  vol. 
  103 
  

  

  This 
  fourth 
  South 
  American 
  group, 
  Verena, 
  has 
  been 
  considered 
  

   distinct 
  by 
  most 
  authors. 
  Its 
  principal 
  known 
  distinguishing 
  char- 
  

   acter 
  is 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  strong, 
  undulate 
  or 
  scalloped 
  spiral 
  ridges 
  

   on 
  the 
  post-nuclear 
  whorls. 
  Dr. 
  Olsson 
  of 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Natural 
  

   Sciences 
  of 
  Philadelphia 
  has 
  recently 
  found 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  fossil 
  record 
  

   from 
  the 
  upper 
  Amazon 
  region 
  that 
  prove 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  Verena 
  in 
  

   that 
  area 
  for 
  considerable 
  time. 
  These 
  fossil 
  species 
  possess 
  shells 
  

   with 
  sculpture 
  identical 
  in 
  type 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  crenocarina 
  (Moricand), 
  

   but, 
  unhke 
  that 
  living 
  species, 
  show 
  shell 
  outlines 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  com- 
  

   pletely 
  transitional 
  to 
  the 
  high-spired 
  outline 
  of 
  Aylacostoma, 
  sensu 
  

   stricto. 
  

  

  Genus 
  Tarehia 
  H. 
  and 
  A. 
  Adams, 
  1854 
  

  

  One 
  Asiatic 
  species, 
  probably 
  Tarehia 
  lateritia 
  (Lea) 
  from 
  the 
  

   Hawaiian 
  Islands, 
  has 
  recently 
  been 
  introduced 
  to 
  American 
  waters 
  

   with 
  aquarium 
  plants. 
  This 
  species 
  was 
  first 
  discovered 
  living 
  feral 
  

   in 
  Lithia 
  Sulphm* 
  Springs, 
  near 
  Tampa, 
  Fla., 
  in 
  December 
  1947 
  by 
  

   C. 
  W. 
  Cooke 
  of 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  Geological 
  Survey. 
  It 
  was 
  not 
  there 
  in 
  

   March 
  1940 
  on 
  the 
  occasion 
  of 
  an 
  earlier 
  complete 
  collection 
  of 
  mol- 
  

   lusk 
  species 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Cooke 
  from 
  that 
  spring. 
  This 
  kind 
  of 
  introduction 
  

   is 
  highly 
  dangerous 
  to 
  public 
  health 
  because 
  this 
  Asiatic 
  type 
  of 
  snail 
  

   is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  primary 
  intermediate 
  host 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  human 
  lung 
  

   fluke 
  (Paragonimiasis). 
  

  

  Family 
  Thiaridae 
  (in 
  Asia) 
  

  

  Genus 
  Thiara 
  Roding, 
  1798 
  

  

  This 
  genus 
  (Roding, 
  1798, 
  p. 
  109) 
  was 
  not 
  originally 
  monotypic. 
  

   It 
  included 
  two 
  valid 
  specific 
  names, 
  amarula 
  (Linnaeus) 
  1758 
  (Chem- 
  

   nitz, 
  1786, 
  pi. 
  134, 
  figs. 
  1218, 
  1219) 
  and 
  cancellata 
  Rodmg 
  1798 
  

   (Chemnitz, 
  1786, 
  pi. 
  134, 
  figs. 
  1220, 
  1221), 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  three 
  nomina 
  

   nuda. 
  Hermannsen 
  (1849, 
  p. 
  576) 
  did 
  not 
  explicitly 
  state 
  that 
  

   amarula 
  Linnaeus 
  was 
  the 
  type. 
  In 
  Latin, 
  he 
  said 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  genus 
  "of 
  

   the 
  type 
  of." 
  However, 
  Brot 
  (1874, 
  p. 
  7) 
  formally 
  designated 
  amarula 
  

   the 
  genotype. 
  In 
  the 
  same 
  monographic 
  work 
  he 
  named 
  two 
  other 
  

   groups 
  which 
  are 
  synonyms 
  of 
  Thiara. 
  Tiaropsis 
  Brot 
  (1874, 
  p. 
  7), 
  

   based 
  on 
  the 
  genotype 
  species 
  winteri 
  von 
  dem 
  Busch 
  (1842, 
  p. 
  1, 
  

   pi. 
  1, 
  figs. 
  1,2), 
  and 
  Plotiopsis 
  Brot 
  (1874, 
  p. 
  7), 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  genotype 
  

   species 
  balonnensis 
  Conrad 
  (1850, 
  p. 
  11), 
  both 
  possess 
  the 
  same 
  shell 
  

   characters 
  as 
  Thiara, 
  differing 
  principally 
  in 
  height 
  of 
  spire 
  and 
  size 
  

   of 
  shell. 
  At 
  present 
  these 
  differences 
  are 
  only 
  considered 
  of 
  specific 
  

   value. 
  Another 
  recently 
  created 
  synonym 
  is 
  Pseudoplotia 
  Forcart 
  

   1950, 
  with 
  the 
  species 
  scabra 
  Miiller 
  1776 
  as 
  originally 
  designated 
  

   genotype. 
  

  

  