SYKES : MALACOLOGICAL NOTES. log 



11. Note on Cypraea talpa and C. exusta. 



(PL X, figs. 4, 6.) 



C[/praea tdlpa was described by Linnaeus,"' and it is stated by 

 Hanley* that "the Cypraea iaJpa of authors is marked for this species 

 in the Linnean Cabinet.'' Ci/pirwa exii-^fa made its first appearance 

 as a variety of 0. taljia m a Hst by Gray, but was duly described and 

 figured by Sowerby in the " Conchological Illustrations." All the 

 mojiographers since then appear to have regarded the twcj as closely 

 allied, but distinct species.' The distinction drawn may, I think, be 

 summarised as follows : that in C. exmta the form is more rounded, 

 being swollen in the middle and pinched at the ends, one extremity 

 of the lip is more produced, and the teeth are much finer and more 

 closely set, being also more eroded and not so produced within, and 

 the colour of the shell is slightly darker. 



In the shell I now figure (PL x, figs. 4, 6), the form and colour 

 appear to be those of C. fa^pa, and the teeth to be those of C. e.ruda; 

 indeed the shell seems to be in many respects a "missing hnk," and 

 I would suggest that in all probability the true place of C. exusta is 

 that which was originally given to it as a variety of C. talpa. 



12. The value of Murdoehia, Aneey. 



In a recent paper by Mons. Ancey, " when dealing with the fauna 

 of New Zealand, he states " Les Lagoclulus de tres-petite taille, qui 

 ont ete rapportes a ce genre Indo-malais, ont un aspect particulier 

 et doivent, a mon sens, constituer une section distincte, sinon un genre 

 tout a fait different. Je lui ai applique dans ma collection le nom de 

 Murdoehia." This seems a somewhat unsatisfactory method of pro- 

 posing a new section, but no doubt the name must be reckoned with, 

 and I would only point out that it seems to be an absolute s\nonym 

 of Cijtora, Kob. and Mlldff ' 



EXPLAX.\TION OF PLATE X. 

 Fig. I. jlpcrostoma giganteum (Rve.). 



Fii^. 2. Apcrostoma confnsuni, n. sp. 



Fig. 3. Apcrostoma fischeri (Hidalgo). 



Figs. 4, 6. Cjipraca talpa, L., var. 

 Fig' 5- Valuta hranii, I'isch. and Bern. 



3. Syst. Nat., ed. x, p. 720. 



4. Ipsa Linn. Conch., p. 183. 



5. See Kiener, Coq. V'iv., Cypraea, pp. 79 — 81; Reeve, Conch. Icon., vol. viii, Cypraea, sp. 

 4 and 5 ; Sowerby, Thes. Conch., vol. iv, Cypraea, p. 6 ; Roberts in Tryon's Manual, vol. vii, p. 

 167 ; Melvill, Mem. Manchester Soc. , ser. 4, vol. i, p. 250. 



6. Journ. de Conchyl., 1901, vol. .\]ix, p. 24. 



7. Nachrbl. Deutsch. Malak. Gesell., 1897, p. 85. 



