52 



DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES OF HELICOIDS FEOM THE 

 INDIAN REGION. 



By G. K. GuDK, F.Z.S. 



Read 9th January, 1914. 



Having been entrusted with the task of conipiliu<r the next volunu' 

 of Land MoUusca for the Fauna of British India, I have had occasion 

 to examine various public and private collections. In the course of 

 this examination some shells proved to have been wrongly identified 

 and to pertain to undescribed forms. A number of shells of 

 Fkctopi/lis, forming part of the Godwin- Austen Collection in the 

 British Museum, and handed to me for identification, also comprised 

 tliree specimens of an unknown species. 



The object of the present paper is to publish the descrif)tions of 

 these, wliicli will ultimately be incorporated with the Fauna of 

 British India. 



PhILALANKA QUINQUELIRATA, U.Sp. 



Shell dextral, pyramidal, narrowly perfoliate, pale yellowish- 

 corneous, semi-translucent, covered with a deciduous cuticle ; finely 

 and closely striated, the striae being flexuous on the base, where there 

 are also traces of excessively minute spirals. Spire convex, apex 

 obtuse, suture deep. Whorls 6, tumid above, inflated below, increasing 

 slowly and regularlj', with five fine spiral lirse, one at the periphery, 

 the other four between it and the suture ; the last whorl not descending 

 in front. Aperture nearly vertical, semi-lunate ; peristome thin, the 

 lower martiin slightly, the columellar margin strongly reflected, and 

 partly overhanging the narrow perforation. Diam. 5 25, alt. 4"25mm. 



Hab. — India: Anamullay Hills (Beddome). 



Type iti the British Museum, presented by Mr. J. H. Ponsonby. 



Five specimens, labelled tricarinata, Blanford, received by 

 Mr. Ponsonby from the late Colonel Beddome, proved upon 

 examination to be quite distinct, and as tliey also differ from all 

 other known forms I venture to base a new species upon them. 

 My own collection contains two specimens from the same source. 



Philalanka quinquelirata is much larger than P. tricarinata, which 

 measures less than 2 mm., and possesses, moreover, only three revolving 

 lirte, the lowest of which is below the periphery, whereas in the new 

 species it is peripheral. The perforation of P. tricarinata is pro- 

 portionately wider, and the columellar margin is not reflected, whilst 

 the aperture is higher in proportion to its width than is the case in 

 P. quinquelirata. 



