134 BULLETIN OF THE 



mutica, or else it is extremely short. It is very voracious, and will swallow 

 whole a young mussel one third its own length. The respiratory siphon re- 

 sembles that of Oliva. The species occurs from Cuba to North Carolina, and 

 is fossil in the Post-pliocene of our Atlantic coast. 



Olivella fuscocincta Dall. 

 OUvella nitidula Dillwyn (Tryon, Man., p. 64), var. ?? 



It is evident that nothing but a study of a much larger series of individuals 

 of each species than has yet been discussed will have to be made before we 

 can define the species of Olivella. Meanwhile, though of the nitidula form, 

 I can find nowhere any figure or description corresponding to this shell, while 

 the (some fifty) specimens which have been examined show hardly any trace 

 of variation among themselves except what is evidently due to differing stages 

 of growth. I have come to the conclusion that it is best to name it. 



Shell stout, subcylindrical, short-spired ; form about that of Fig. 298 in 

 Sowerby, Thes. Conch. Mon. Oliva, by Marrat ; free from any spots, streaks, or 

 zigzag markings whatever; body pale fawn-color, with a white revolving band 

 about two fifths of the way from the suture to the anterior end of the shell ; 

 this band is always present, and in some specimens another fainter one is 

 visible anterior to the former ; the nucleus, the anterior edge of the suture, 

 the posterior edge of the outer fasciole, and the callosities of the mouth, are 

 translucent white ; the callus on the spire and the anterior part of the outer 

 fasciole are uniform dark brown; the interior fasciole or anterior callus is 

 white with from two to five ridges, in the gap between this and the posterior 

 callus are about five ridges, while the posterior callus is smooth. Lon. of 

 shell, 10.0 ; of aperture, 8.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 5.0 mm. 



Dredged at Barbados, in 100 fms., and near by, at Stations 273 and 292, in 

 103 and 56 fms. ; at Station 36, in 84 fms. ; at Station 147, near St. Kitts, in 

 250 fms. There were apparently living specimens in all of these hauls ; the 

 bottom temperature varied from 52°. 5 to 74°.5 F. at the stations mentioned. 



Olivella jaspidea Gmelin. 



Valuta jaspidea Gmel., S. N., p. 3442, No. 21, 1788. 



Oliva conoidalis Lam., An. s. Vert, VII. p. 437, 1822. 



Olivella exigua «' Martini," Marrat, Sby., Thes. Oliva, p. 33, pi. xxiii. figs. 399-401, 



187L 

 Cylinder tenuis, longus exiguus, variis coloribus, etc. Martini, Neues Syst. Conch. Cab., 



II. p. 186, pi. 1. fig. 556, 1773. 



Variety rotunda. 



Among the specimens brought back by the Blake were a number belonging 

 to what, for safety's sake, it is more prudent to call a variety of Olivella jas- 

 pidea, as it goes through much the same series of color varieties, and, excepting 



