215 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



Back without a longitudinal furrow [Erato, sensu stricto]. 

 Columella spirally ridged at the front ; aperture narrow. 



Pyrif orm-oval ; spire very short. 1. E. minor. 



Fusiform-oval ; spire elevated. 2. E australis. 



Columella ending in a strong spiral plait ; aperture mode- 

 rately wide. 

 Pyriforra-oval. 



Outer lip squarely shouldered behind. 



3. E. jjyrulata. 



Outer lip roundly sloping behind, more attenuated 



to the front. 4. E. Morningtonensis. 



Cylindric-oblong. 5. E. duplicata 



Back with a longitudinal sulcus [Eratopsis]. 



Columella tooth-ridged at the front ; shell pyriform-oval. 



6. E. illota. 



SPECIES EXCLUDED. 



E. ? octoplicata ( Woods), Tate, is a true Marginella as originally 

 placed. 



1. Erato minor, Tate. 



Reference. — Trans. Roy. Soc. S, Aust., vol. I., p. 96, 1878. 



Shell minute, shining, triangularly pear-shaped, rather tumid, 

 abruptly narrowed in front ; spire short, obtusely pointed, the 

 terminal whorls narrow and flat. Aperture narrow, straight, 

 emarginate behind. Outer lip roundly inflected with about 

 fifteen denticles, broadly and varicosely reflected on the body- 

 Avhorl, callously spreading behind on the penultimate whorl ; the 

 varicose reflection is minutely granulate or pustulate. The outer 

 lip is squarely curved behind, and ascends to about the middle of 

 the penultimate whorl. 



The columella has five crowded, slender, oblique ridges at the 

 front, which are succeeded by denticles for the greater part of 

 the rest of the lip. 



Dimensions. — Length, 4; width, 2-5; height, 2*25 (at 1-25 

 from the posterior end). 



Loccdities. — Eocene. Muddy Creek ; River Murray Cliffs, 

 near Morgan ; probably Table Cape and Schnapper Point (the 

 single specimen from each locality not satisfactorily determined). 



Worn specimens are similar to E. Sandwicensis, Pease, but are 

 broader, and more inflated posteriorly with a shorter and more 

 abrupt spire ; the resemblance to E. nana is greater, but the 

 broader squared-shoulder distinguishes the fossil. Unworn examples 

 are like to a dwarfed E. lachyrma, except for the conspicuous pos- 

 terior angulation of the outer lip. 



