137 



A LIST OF AUSTEALIAN MACTEID^, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF 

 A NEW SPECIES. 



By Edgar A. Smith, I.S.O. 



Read 17th April, 1914. 



Mr. H. H. Bloomer recently very kindly sent to the British Museum 

 a few specimens of a Mactra from Queensland, asking me to give liiiu 

 the name of the species, or, if unnamed, to publish a description of it. 



Not finding it in the collection in the British Museum, it became 

 necessary to study the literature bearing upon this group of MoUusca, 

 and more particularly that portion of it relating to the Australian 

 fauna. In doing this it seemed advisable to get together and publish 

 a list of the known Mactridte of Australia, which it is hoped may 

 prove of some use to authors and collectors on that continent. Forty 

 different species are now recorded, but some of these, namely, decora, 

 Desh., olorina, Phil., ornata. Gray, and sericea^ Desh., require con- 

 firmation as being Australian. 



A few other species described or quoted as Australian are beyond 

 recognition, such as antiquata, Spengler { = chemnitzii, Gray), australis, 

 Sow., decussata, Menke, and roUmdata, Gmelin. 



The last-named (Syst. nat., vol. vi, p. 3257) was founded upon 

 two figures representing totally different species, and consequently 

 had better be regarded as unrecognizable. Its habitat was unknown 

 to Gmelin, but in Paetel's Catalogue (vol. iii, p. 33, 1890) Australia 

 is given. 



No attempt has been made to give complete synonymy and 

 references, but only those are quoted which seemed necessary or of 

 special importance. 



The species are arranged in alphabetical order for easy reference, 

 the sectional names, where present, being placed in brackets, and 

 I would here observe that some of the sub-genera and divisions 

 which have been proposed appear to be of little or no use. Reeve's 

 monograph in the Conchologia Iconica, vol. viii, 1854, and that by 

 Weinkauff in the Conchylien Cabinet (1880-4) are referred to in the 

 following list, for the sake of brevity, merely under those authors' 

 names. 



1. Mactra abbreviata, Lamarck. B.M.' 

 Mactra ahhreviata, Lamarck, Anim. sans Vert., vol. v, p. 477, 1818 ; 

 Mabille in Hedley, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, vol. xxvii, 

 p. 597, 1903. 

 J/, olesa, Deshayes, P.Z.S., 1853, p. 16; Reeve, fig. 19; Weinkauff, 



p. 48, pi. xvi, figs. 3-4. 

 var. = ilT. meretriciformis, Deshayes, I.e., p. 16; Reeve, fig. 18; 

 "Weinkauff, p. 58, pi. xx, figs. 3-3rt. 



Hal. — Torres Straits (Deshayes for ohesa), north-east coast of 

 Australia (J. B. Jukes in Brit. Mus.), Cape York (Brit. Mus.), Port 



1 The letters B.M. indicate that the species is in the British Museum. 



