99 



ON TASMANIAN SIPHONAEIA, USTCLUDINa A 

 NEW SPECIES. 



[By Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, F.a.S., &c., 

 CoiT. Mem. Roy. Soc, Tas., &c., &c.] 



[Bead 15th October, 1877.] 



Some time since, that is in May, 1876, 1 read a paper before 

 this Society on some Australian Patellidce, on which occasion 

 I referred to two Tasmanian species of Siphonaria, S. denticu- 

 lata Pcnd S. dieMcvnensis, which were the names I supposed them 

 to have received from Messrs. Quoy and Graimard. (Voyage 

 de V Astrolabe, Vol. 2, p. 327, and 340.) Since reading that 

 paper I have had an opportunity of seeing type specimens of 

 both these shells, and I find that the one I considered to be 

 identical with S. denticulata, var. Tasmanica mihi., is an un- 

 described species of a very marked character, to which I now 

 give the name and description found below : — 



SiPHONARiA zoisTATA. n.sjj. S.t. irvegidciriter ovata, latere siph. 

 distincte suhrostrata, tumide conica, alta, vertlce mediano, subacuto ; costis 

 40-50, tenulbus, planatls, canali siph. plus minusve iiiterriiptis. Cceruleo- 

 albida, llneis vel fasciis olivis varie concenfrice zonata, scepe autem atra 

 vel corrosa, hitus pulcJire nitente intense fulvo impurea, margine dentata, 

 Impressio muscularis falvo-alhkla latere canali irregidariter prolongata. 



Shell irregvilarly oval, distinctly subi'ostrate ou the siphoual side, 

 tumidly conical, high, vertex median, subacute ; ribs 40 to 50, thin, 

 flattened, more or less interrupted by the siphonal canal. Color bluish- 

 white, concentrically and variously zoned with olive lines or bands, some- 

 times the apex is entirely olive, but these lines vary in every shell, oft^u 

 stained black or corroded. The interior is beautifully enamelled, and 

 stained an intense purple brown, with a brownish white spathula which is 

 continued more or less into the siphonal channel. The margin is dentate, 

 rarely dotted with white. The size of the shell varies. Long. 20-25. 

 Lat. 15-19. Alt. 8-12, millimetres. 



The animal has been already described in the paper referred to. It 

 generally is found above the tide marks on the hollows of rocks. It appears 

 to be gregarious and is very common ou all the South Tasmanian coast. I 

 think I have also seen it on the rocks near Queensclifif, at the entrance to 

 Port Phillip. 



In order to point out its affinities I will mention all the species of 

 Slphonaria known as Australian. Siphonaria diemanensis, Quoy and 

 Gaimard, has distinct brown interstices or grooves between the ribs. 

 S. scahra, Reeve, Port Jackson, is a thinner and more depressed shell, 

 though, in my opinion^ only a variety of S. diemanensis. Siphonaria 

 denticulata, Quoy and Gaimard, appears to be only another variety, of 

 larger size, somewhat closer ribs, and paler colour. It is totally different 

 in the interior from S. zonata. S. faniculata is another pale variety of S. 



