THE GENUS CATAULUS, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF 

 NEW FORMS. 



By E. R. SYKES, B.A. 



Some years ago I gave (Pioc. Make. Soc., vol. iii, p. 66) a list of Ceylon 

 forms of this genus known to me. 



Recently I have examined the greater portion of the specimens belonging 

 to this group which formed part of Hugh Nevill's collection. Several 

 species appeared to me undentifiable with any known form, and a few of 

 these have recently been described by Mr. Fulton, unfortunately without 

 any figures. Four new names are now proposed, and I thought it might be 

 of interest to bring the list of Ceylon forms that I published some seven 

 years ago up to date. Since that time the generic name has been discussed 

 by Dr. Kobelt and myself (^), and a note on the anatomy has been 

 published by Miss Uigby (') ; the residue of the notes are referred to 

 directly in the following pages. 



Insular faunas are prone to include a number of closely related forms 

 belonging to a single group and the problem of the specific value of these 

 forms is an exceedingly difficult one. Until the anatomical characters of 

 the races of Catauhis are investigated, the decision as to whether characters 

 found in the shells are varietal or specific must be based on general 

 experience in dealing with specimens and also from a comparison of fairly 

 lengthy series. 



The figured specimens are in my collection. 



Cataulus aureus, Pfr., 

 In my paper I placed C. leucochilus, (Ad. and Rve.) Sby., as a synonym. 

 Recently a number of specimens of the form now described as C. smWii 

 have been distributed under this name and I have therefore again investigated 

 the matter. I feel no doubt that my original decision was correct and t^hat 

 the figure given by Sowerby— no description having ever appeared — was 

 taken from a specimen of G. aureus, very probably one of those in the 

 British Museum. It may be remarked that the name aureus does not 

 occur in Sowerby's list, and the Museum tablet has been so labelled in 

 fairly recent times, having previously born the appellation of a variety of 

 another species. Very possibly Sowerby noticed this and perceiving it was 

 erroneous, he published the name leucochilus. 



1. Thierreich, Cyclophoridae, p. 281 ; J. Malac, Vol. x, p. 2. 



2. Proc. Malac. Soc, Vol. v, p. 261. 



