266 DR. GWYN JEFFREYS ON THE MOLLUSCA OF THE [Nov. 14, 

 V 3. SiPHODENTALILM LOFOTENSE, M. SarS. 



Siphonodentalium lofotense, M. Sars, Christ, Vid. Selsk. Forh. 

 1864, p. 297, t. Ti. f. 29-33 : B. C. v. p. 195, pi. ci. f. 2. 



•Porcupine' Exp. 1S69: St. 2,6, 10, 14, 16, 18, 23, 25, 28, 

 1870 : Atl. 9, Yigo B., 26-30 ; Med. 50, 55. 



JDistribution. Norway, Shetland and the Hebrides, Bay of Biscay, 

 throughout tlie Mediterranean from Marseilles to the coast of 

 Syria, 'Valorous' Exp., New England ; 30-1/50 fms. 



Fossil. Pliocene : Calabria and Sicily. 



An undescribed species, allied to S. lofotense, was dredged by the 

 late Mr. McAndrew in the Gulf of Suez ; it differs in the mouth 

 being encircled by a rim and in the base being bifid instead of 

 merely notched. 



1/ 4. SiPHODENTALIUM aXJIXaUANGULARE, ForbcS. 



Dentalium quinquangulare, Forb. Rep. ^g. Inv. p. 188. 

 Siphonentalis tetragona, G. O. Sars, Moll. reg. arct. Norv. p. 105, 

 t. 20. f. 13, a-c. 



'Porcupine' Exp. 1869: St. 3, 14, 15, 17, 38. 1870 : Atl. 1, 2, 

 3, 3ff, 6, 8, 9, 13, 17«, 24-34 ; Med. 45, 55, Adventure Bank. 



Distrilmtion. Norway, Bay of Biscay and N. Spain, Mediterranean 

 from Algiers and Marseilles to the J^lgean, Jamaica, Barbadoes, var. 

 off Culebra I. (' Challenger' Exp.); 5-650 fms. 



Fossil. Pliocene : S. Italy and Sicily. 



I do not consider this the Dentalium tetragonum of Brocchi or a 

 variety of it, to which his and Gmelin'sD. sexangulum (notZ). sex- 

 angulare of Lamarck and Deshayes) apparently belongs. Speci- 

 mens of Brocchi's species from the Subapennine Tertiaries, for which 

 I am indebted to the kindness of Professor Bellardi and the late 

 Signer Lawley, are clearly a species of Dentalium, and have the 

 base (or apex, whichever it may be called) truncated and fitted with 

 a central short pipe as in D. clentalis and allied species. Some of 

 these specimens are four-angled, while others have 5 or 6 angles. 



I am not at all satisfied with the generic place of this peculiar shell. 

 The sculpture is that of most species oi Dentalium, and the fry have 

 also a bulbous or pear-shaped base ; but the terminal notches, 

 usually one on each side, agree with those in most species of Sipho- 

 dentalium. Some Norwegian specimens have five notches, and are 

 jagged like >S'. vitreuju. If the position of these terminal notches or 

 slits constitutes a generic character, D. sithterfissum and D. rubescens 

 ought to be separated from Dentalium with much greater reason than 

 Antalis. Although the present species is so common in Norway 

 and the west of Ireland, as well as southwards to the Mediterranean, 

 it has strangely enough not yet occurred in Shetland, where the 

 conditions of habitability are similar. 



5. SiPHODENTALIUM VITRECM, M. SarS. 



Dentalium vitreum, M. Sars, Nyt Mag. Naturvid. 1851, Bd. vi. 

 p. 178 (Siphonodentalium), 1858. 



