﻿156 
  PKOCEKDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  MALACOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY. 
  

  

  being 
  absalvitely 
  missing. 
  All 
  the 
  specimens 
  of 
  laqueatus, 
  Sowb., 
  

   I 
  have 
  yet 
  seen 
  have 
  been 
  low 
  shells 
  with 
  the 
  tail- 
  valve 
  many-slit, 
  

   whilst 
  the 
  ruhiginosiis, 
  Hutt., 
  have 
  all 
  had 
  few 
  slits 
  in 
  that 
  valve. 
  

   But 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  slits 
  is 
  quite 
  variable 
  also, 
  and 
  these 
  facts 
  must 
  be 
  

   borne 
  in 
  mind 
  when 
  the 
  differentiation 
  of 
  species 
  of 
  Acanthochites 
  is 
  

   undertaken. 
  

  

  Abnokmal 
  Chitons. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Trans. 
  KZ. 
  Inst., 
  vol. 
  xi, 
  p. 
  375, 
  1907 
  (1908), 
  I 
  recorded 
  

   the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  a 
  five-valved 
  specimen 
  of 
  Chiton 
  pellis-serpentis, 
  

   Q,. 
  & 
  G., 
  and 
  a 
  six-valved 
  Plaxiphora 
  ovata, 
  Hutton, 
  commenting 
  

   upon 
  the 
  scarcity 
  of 
  such 
  finds. 
  I 
  had 
  never 
  seen 
  a 
  seven-valved 
  

   specimen 
  at 
  that 
  time, 
  nor 
  have 
  they 
  been 
  frequently 
  met 
  with 
  by 
  

   any 
  collector. 
  Yet 
  they 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  common 
  than 
  

   records 
  show, 
  or 
  else 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  peculiarly 
  fortunate. 
  At 
  Port 
  

   Curtis, 
  Queensland, 
  I 
  collected 
  all 
  the 
  specimens 
  of 
  Sclerochiton 
  

   Curtisiaiius, 
  Smith, 
  only 
  sixteen 
  in 
  all, 
  I 
  could 
  find, 
  yet 
  among 
  these 
  

   was 
  a 
  beautiful 
  seven-valved 
  shell. 
  As 
  this 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  detected 
  

   whilst 
  collecting, 
  it 
  caused 
  me 
  to 
  look 
  through 
  my 
  Kermadec 
  shells, 
  

   with 
  the 
  result 
  that 
  I 
  unearthed 
  two 
  seven-valved 
  Ischnochitons, 
  one 
  

   of 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  unfortunately 
  mislaid. 
  At 
  Seascale, 
  Cumberland, 
  

   England, 
  the 
  only 
  Chiton 
  I 
  could 
  find 
  was 
  Cras. 
  cinereus, 
  Linn., 
  but 
  

   I 
  was 
  exceedingly 
  gratified 
  to 
  note 
  a 
  seven-valved 
  specimen. 
  This 
  

   is 
  the 
  first 
  one 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  living. 
  

  

  How 
  easily 
  abnormalities 
  can 
  be 
  passed 
  over 
  is 
  evidenced 
  in 
  the 
  

   British 
  Museum 
  by 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  six 
  Plaxiphora 
  Mattliewsi, 
  Iredale, 
  

   collected 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Matthews 
  and 
  presented 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Bednall. 
  Though 
  

   such 
  keen 
  collectors, 
  it 
  would 
  appear 
  they 
  have 
  overlooked 
  that 
  one 
  

   of 
  these 
  has 
  only 
  six 
  valves. 
  

  

  QtTEENSLAND 
  PoLYPLACOPHOEA. 
  

  

  "When 
  Chiton 
  -collecting 
  in 
  New 
  Zealand 
  I 
  became 
  interested 
  in 
  

   Australian 
  forms, 
  and 
  through 
  the 
  co-operation 
  of 
  my 
  esteemed 
  

   correspondents, 
  Messrs. 
  E. 
  H. 
  Matthews 
  and 
  A. 
  F. 
  Basset 
  Hull, 
  

   I 
  acquired 
  a 
  fairly 
  representative 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  Chitons 
  of 
  Southern 
  

   Australia. 
  I 
  drew 
  up 
  some 
  tables 
  showing 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  

   recorded 
  species, 
  and 
  much 
  of 
  interest 
  revealed 
  itself. 
  Two 
  noticeable 
  

   features 
  were 
  the 
  poverty 
  of 
  the 
  known 
  Tasmanian 
  fauna 
  and 
  the 
  

   entire 
  lack 
  of 
  Queensland 
  records. 
  The 
  former, 
  I 
  believe, 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  

   the 
  greater 
  attention 
  given 
  to 
  these 
  molluscs 
  in 
  other 
  states, 
  not 
  to 
  the 
  

   inferiority 
  of 
  the 
  fauna. 
  In 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  latter 
  no 
  collections 
  appear 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  recoi-ded, 
  and 
  very 
  little 
  attention 
  has 
  been 
  paid 
  to 
  the 
  

   collection 
  of 
  Chitons. 
  In 
  February, 
  1909, 
  the 
  opportunity 
  presented 
  

   itself 
  to 
  me 
  of 
  investigating 
  the 
  Chiton 
  fauna 
  of 
  sub-tropical 
  Queensland. 
  

   I 
  have 
  just 
  received 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Hedley 
  his 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  the 
  Marine 
  

   Mollusca 
  of 
  Queensland 
  (Proc. 
  Aust. 
  Ass. 
  Adv. 
  Sci., 
  1909), 
  and 
  on 
  

   p. 
  352 
  he 
  only 
  totals 
  twenty 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  class 
  Amphineura, 
  of 
  

   which 
  two 
  are 
  Aplacophora, 
  In 
  view 
  of 
  this 
  list 
  and 
  the 
  collections 
  

   I 
  made, 
  it 
  seems 
  opportune 
  to 
  record 
  the 
  latter 
  with 
  some 
  comments 
  

  

  