THE 



JOURNAL OF MALACOLOGY. 



No. 3. OCTOBER 4TH, 1899. Vol. VII. 



MALACOLOGICAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM 

 NEW ZEALAND. 



By henry SUTER, 

 Christchtirch , N. Z. 



1.— On the Carnivopous Genera Paryphanta and Rhytida. 



(Plate iii, figs, i, la.) 



In Fischer's " Manuel de Conchyltologie^' it is stated, that Rhytida is 

 ovoviviparous, the assertion being no doubt based on the observations 

 made by E. Marie and H. Crosse on Rhytida inaeqtiaiis from New 

 Caledonia. This at once led me to place the New Zealand R. 

 meesoni in the genus Paryphanta, having ascertained that it also laid 

 calcareous eggs. The shell however is quite characteristic oi Rhytida, 

 being malleated, containing more carbonate of lime, and being there- 

 fore in the living animal not so pliable as the shells oi Paryphanta, 

 and the periostracum not overlapping the inner layer of the shell at 

 the peristome. Besides this species, the type of the genus, R. greeti- 

 woodi, is now also known to lay calcareous eggs, ^ and it is to be 

 surmised that all our species of Rhytida are ovoviviparous, which is 

 also the case with Paryphanta busbyi, hochstetteri, urniila, edwardi 

 and Schizoglossa novoseelandica, the latter being evidently a Paryphanta 

 in which the shell has become rudimentary. 



The composition of the shell of Paryphanta is almost unique, inas- 

 much as the periostracal layer, consisting chiefly of conchin, is pre- 

 dominant, and very little calcareous matter is deposited on its inner 



I F. Hutchinson, Jun., Trans. NewZea). Inst., xxx, p. 535. 

 JouRN. OF IMalac, 1S99, vol. vii, No. 3. 



