138 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XV, 
from Dr. Anderson’s notes, as “‘ King Island Bay.” There is a 
rather close resemblance between C. nivosa and C. vitellus. The 
atter is one of the commonest species of the Indian Seas, and 
the likelihood of the Mergui shells being referable to that spe- 
cies seemed so great that they evidently were not critically 
examined. Their characters were greatly obscured by a rather 
strongly adhering thin layer of marine mud, w ich, owing to 
the supposed identity of the shell with the common C. vitellus, 
it had not been thought worth while to remove, and the speci- 
cleaning the shells it became at once evident that they do not 
correspond with Cyprea vitellus, but are specifically identical 
with the Mauritius specimen of Cyprea nivosa. 
e accuracy of the locality recorded by Dr. Anderson 
does not admit of any doubt, and thus a most interesting addi- 
tion has been made to the fauna of British India, and to the 
geographical range of this beautiful shell. 
DESCRIPTION. 
As the exact identification of these various specimens, from 
Mauritius and from the Mergui Islands, is matter of great im: 
portance, it may be useful to give a full description of Cyprea 
nivosa founded on the Indian Museum specimens, in place of the 
short diagnoses hitherto published. 
CYPRHA NIVOSA Broderip. 
1827. Cyprea nivosa Broderip.—Zool. Journ., Vol. III, 
1836. Cyprea nivosa Brod.—Sowerby, Conch. IIl., Cypree- 
ide, fig. 10U, sp. 19. 
1845. Cyprea nivosa Brod.—Reeve. Monograph of the 
genus Cyprea, sp. 25. 
1870. prea nivosa Brod.—Sowerby, Thesaurus Con- 
chyliorum, Vol. IV, Cyprza, sp. 38. 
; prea nivosa Brod.—Roberts, Tryon’s Manual of 
Conchology, Vol. VII, p. 182. 
1888. Cyprea vitellus V.inn.—E. von Martens, Journ. 
Linn. Soc., Zool., Vol. XXI, p. 186, sp. 159. 
1888. Cyprea nivosa Brod.—Melvill, Mem. and Proc. 
Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc., 4th ser., Vol. I, pp. 205, 238 
y- 
The small spire is more or less completely concealed by 
callus. 
