CRYPTELASMUS. 331 



aaa. Shell long- turrite, of 19-21 whorls, the last rounded; 

 aperture short, with small parietal and axial lamellae, 

 the latter several whorls long; young shells with 

 parietal, axial and basal lamellae in one or more 

 intermediate whorls. South Africa. 



Genus CCELIAXIS Ad. et Ang. 



Genus CRYPTELASMUS Pilsbry, nov. 



Shell imperf orate, sinistral in known species, very slender, 

 turrite, many-whorled (11 to 15). Apex very obtuse and 

 somewhat bulging, smooth. Aperture ovate, oblique, the 

 outer lip simple, columella straightened ; parietal wall armed 

 with an entering lamella. Cavity of one or two intermediate 

 whorls obstructed by lamella? on the parietal wall and colu- 

 mella; the central axis elsewhere thin and straight. Soft 

 anatomy unknown. 



Reproduction oviparous, the eggs flattened, hard-shelled. 

 Type Balea canteroiana 'Gundl.' Pfr. 



Illustrated on plate 48. The single species composing this 

 genus has no near relatives in America. The internal 

 lamellae remind one of the Urocoptid groups Esochara and 

 Sectilumen. They appear very early, certainly near the be- 

 ginning of the neanic stage, how much earlier we do not 

 know. Among Achatinoid snails the genus seems related, 

 though not closely, to Cceliaxis of South Africa. 



Cryptelasmus is confined, so far as we know, to the south 

 coast of Central Cuba. 



C. CANTEROIANA ('Gundlach,' Pfr.). PL 48, figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7. 



Shell imperforate, sinistral, turrite, thin, striate, waxy- 

 hyaline. Spire long, the apex rather obtuse. Whorls 13, a 

 trifle convex, the last scarcely over one-sixth the total length, 

 rounded at base. Columella simple, subvertical. Aperture 

 oblique, semioval, with an entering, compressed, subhori- 

 zontal, parietal lamella; peristome simple, unexpanded, the 

 right margin arching forward. Length 15, diam. 2.66, aper- 

 ture 2.5x1.5 mm. (Pfr.). 



Cuba: La Vigia, Trinidad (Gundlach, Pilsbry) ; a variety 

 at "Lagunilla, " near Cienfuegos, province of Santa Clara 

 (Pilsbry). 



