TURBINELLUS spirilkis, 

 Carinated Turnip Shell. 



Generic Character. 

 Testa piriformis vel fusiformis, sub-ponderosa. Apex papillosus. 

 Columella plicafa. Labium interius margine dilatatu7n. Canalis 

 elongatus, rectus. 



Shell pear-shaped or fusiform, heavy. Apex papillary. Pillar 

 plaited. Interior lip with the margin dilated. Canal 

 lengthened, straight. 



Generic Type. Valuta Pyrum. Lin. 



Specific Character. 



T. pyriformi ; spird depressd, apice prominente ; anfractu basali 

 carinato ; labio interiore dilatato, albo ; columella: basi plicatd. 



Shell pear-shaped ; spire depressed, apex prominent; basal whorl 

 carinated, interior lip dilated, white ; base of the pillar one- 

 plaited. 



Murex spirillus. Gmelin, 3544. Dillwyn, 721. 



Martini, 3. tab. 115./. 1069. Knorr, 6. tab. lA.f. 3. 



In assigning a situation, under the modern system, to the 

 Murex spirillus of Linnaeus, no genus appears to me more 

 adapted for its reception than that of Turbinellus. These 

 shells were formerly blended with the Linnsean Volutes, 

 but are now detached from them as a distinct genus. The 

 most striking peculiarity consists in the prolongation of the 

 base into a long and straight canal ; they possess, in 

 common with the Volutes, a papillary spire, and, in general, 

 their surface is smooth. There are, however, other shells 

 classed by the French conchologists with this genus, from 

 their having a plaited columella ; in these, the apex of 

 the spire is acute, the base truncated, and the outside 

 rough with nodules or obtuse spines; characters so greatly 

 at variance, and so very distinct from those first men- 

 tioned, that it becomes questionable whether these latter 

 shells should not rather be classed as a distinct group : in 

 fact, they are much more nearly allied to Mitra and Can- 

 cellaria, which have acute spires, sculptured volutions, and 

 truncate bases, than to the smooth Turbinelli, which differ 

 so strikingly in all these particulars. 



This shell is common to many parts of the Indian Ocean ; 

 and, like most of the smooth Turbinelli, has the inner lip 

 dilated. 



PI. 177. 



