213 



Notes on south Australian Marine Mollusca, 

 WITH Descriptions of New Species.- Part VI. 



By Jos. C. Vekco, M.D. (Lond.), F.R.C.S. (Eng.). 



[Read August 6, 1907.] 



Plates XXVII. and XXV III. 



Sepia braggi, .^7/. uoc. PI. xxvii., tigs. G, ua, {jb, Cf>, GJ. 



The animal from which this cuttlebone comes is un- 

 known. It is 60 mm. long by 11 mm. broad at its widest 

 part, with a maximum thickness of 4" 75 mm. The dorsal sur- 

 face is very slightly convex in its anterior two-thirds, but 

 markedly curved in the posterior third. The mucro of 2'75 

 mm. in length projects at an angle of about 135°. The maxi- 

 mum width and thickness is at 20 mm. from the anterior end, 

 which is sharply rounded. Posteriorly it uniformly narrows 

 to a minimum of 3 mm., and at its extreme end terminates 

 in a thin circular expansion, 4 mm. in diameter, which ex- 

 tends about 1'5 mm. beyond the base of the projecting spine. 



An orange-coloured line arises at the margins at the point 

 of maximum width, and becomes j)lainer and wider as it 

 extends backwards, and more prominent ventrally till it pro- 

 jects nearly a millimeter in height, and is half a millimet-er in 

 width at the posterior end of the white substance, around 

 which it circles. A longitudinal central furrow deepest just 

 in front of the widest part of the shell, grows shallower and 

 wider anteriorly, and nearly vanishes at the posterior end. 

 Dorsally a very low rounded central rib increases posteriorly 

 to a width of 3 mm., and midway between it and the mar- 

 gins of the bone is a scarcely perceptible longitudinal depres- 

 sion. 



Its nearest ally is *S^. elou(/ata. Per and Orb, Ceph Seiches, 

 t. 24, f. 7-10, 1839: Tryon, Man. Conch., vol. i., p. 195, pi. 

 xci., figs. 418, 419. llah., Red Sea. The animal of that spe- 

 cies is also unknown. The sepiostaire as figured in Tryon 

 is only 45 mm. long, is less attenuated j^osteriorly, has a 

 comparatively wider hollow expansion at the posterior end, 

 is curved for a much shorter length posteriorly, and has its 

 spine not set at an angle, but curving backward, so as to 

 continue the nearly straight dorsum of the bone. The chalky 

 substance, too, seems much thicker, and to more suddenlv 

 decrease forward. The dimensions are not given in Tryon "s 

 text. 



