12 PHILINE. 



With this species have been united by many late writers, forms of 

 Philine from the Red Sea, Australia, etc., which so far as the shells 

 are concerned seem to be almost, if not quite inseparable. It 

 remains to be seen whether the dentition and gizzard-plates will 

 offer features differentiating the Atlantic and Mediterranean form 

 from those of the Indo-Pacific. The descriptions of these forms 

 have been given above, but the question of their status is of course, 

 an open one. 



P. SCABRA Miiller. PI. 5, figs. 1, 2, 3. 



Shell resembling in shape a miniature Scaphander lignarius, but 

 more cylindrical; it is of a delicate texture, semitransparent, and of 

 a glistening and iridescent lustre ; sculpture, numerous and close-set 

 spiral and parallel rows of minute oval dots which are interwoven 

 and arranged like the links of a chain ; some of these rows being 

 intermediate, and apparently squeezed or compressed, at the sides 

 become merely fine lines ; the front edge or base of the mouth and 

 top of the outer lip are exquisitely fringed with sharpish points, 

 like short teeth of a comb ; color clear white when the shell is ex- 

 tracted from the animal, afterwards becoming milk-white ; spire 

 slightly prominent; whorls 3; the body whorl (as usual in this 

 genus) is disproportionately large and voluminous; the other two 

 are small with an indistinct and thickened nucleus; suture deep 

 and channelled ; mouth acute-angled above, and greatly expanded be- 

 low, with a squarish base; outer lip gently curved, folding inwards 

 on the upper part ; the top of this lip is below the spire ; inner cor- 

 ner cloven or excavated, so as to cause a disjunction of the suture in 

 front and a partial separation of the body-whorl from the next ; 

 inner lip forming a rather thick and broad glaze. (Jeffr.). 



Alt. 5-8 mill. 



Iceland, Greenland and Norway south to the Bay of Biscay; Med- 

 iterranean Sea at Sicily, etc.; Whydah, W. Africa. 



Balla scabra MULL., Zool. Danica, ii, p. 41, pi. 71, f. 10-12. 

 Philine scabra FORBES & HANLEY, Hist. Brit. Moll., iii, p. 543, pi. 

 114E, f. 4, 5 ; pi. VV, f. 1. JEFFREYS, Brit. Conch., iv, p. 447 ; v, 

 pi. 96, f. 1. SARS, Moll. Reg. Arct. Norv. p. 294, pi. 18, f. 13a-c. 

 Scaphander scabra SOWB. in Conch. Icon., f. 6. S. sealer SMITH, P. 

 Z. S., 1871, p. 738. B.pectinata DILLWYN, Descr. Cat. Rec. Shells, 

 p. 481. " B. pectinata MULL." of some authors, not of Miiller ! 

 B. denticiilata J. ADAMPI, Trans. Linn. Soc., v, 1800, p. 1, pi. 1, f. 3, 



