130 the nautilus. 



Report on a collection of shells from Peru, with a 

 Summary of the Littoral marine Mollusca of the Peru- 

 vian Zoological Province. By William Healey Dall : 



Proc. U. S. N. M. 37, p. 147-294, Pis. 20-28, 1909 Dealt with 



in his usual masterly way, this paper of Dr. Dall is one of tlie most 

 notable contributions to the fauna of Western South America wliich 

 has appeared for some years. Ostensibly but a report on the rela- 

 tively small collection of shells collected by Dr. R. E. Coker, the 

 scope of the paper has been widened, first by the addition of a valu- 

 able bibliography, and in la(er pages by the inclusion of a " List of 

 Species Composing the Fauna," prefaced by several pages of the 

 acute generalizations which we have now come to expect in nearly 

 all the larger works of this author. The lit^t of synonyms at the 

 back is also a most useful feature. 



As seems inevitable in a work of this scope a few minor errors 

 and inconsistences liav^ crept in, some ot which it may be well to 

 call to notice, as well as some of the more important chaniies in 

 nomenclature which Dr. Dall has found it nei-essary to undertake. 



The inaccuracies are as usual connected chiefly with the list ot 

 Cephalopods, which lias apparently been compiled from the literature 

 without any attempt at revision or the elimination of synonyms. 



By the rules ot nomenclature the family name PhUonexidoB 

 (used on p. 193) can have no standing and the creatures grouped 

 under it must either be referred to the Argonautt'dce. as most authors 

 now maintain ; or if segregated the name Tremoctopodt'dce should 

 probably be used. At any rate the only species here given under 

 this group, Tremoctopus mmimvs Orb., is a synonym of Argonauta 

 hians Sol. 



On p. 194, Bolitaena " microtyla'' is a misprint for B. " microco- 

 tyla" and Polypus " fontaineaims " for P. '■\fo7itaniamis." On p. 

 195 Ommastrephus gigas d'Orb. is now held the type of a distinct 

 genus Dosidicus wSteenstrup, 1857. Also Steenstnipiolo chilensis 

 Pfeffer is regarded by even its author as but the young <\•ti<J.^' of 

 Telcoteuthts platyptera (d'Orb.) which is also listed on tiie following 

 page. Onychoteuthis brachyptera Pfeffer may also be a synonym of 

 this. Taonius sclmeehageni Pfeffer (listed on p. 196) is a synonym 

 of Zygocranchia zygaena (Verany) Hoyle, according to Pfeffer, but 

 further specimens may indicate difiFerently. 



It is a pity that original figures of Polypus fonlanianus and Loligo 



