122 TRANSACTIONS OF THE WAGNER FREE 



consolidation of Sowerby's species with various others was ill-advised. Guppy 

 had already expressed doubts on this point. 



Genus SOLENOSTEIRA Dall. 



Of the genus Strepsidtcra, established in 1840, the genus called Siplionalia 

 by Adams, a quarter of a century later, appears to be merely a section or 

 synonym. The type of Strepsidura is Fiisits ficidneus Lamarck, which differs 

 from the Japanese type, upon which Siphonalia was founded, only in height 

 of spire, external ornamentation, and length of recurved canal, all characters 

 not more than sectional in value. But to Siplionalia authors have added 

 several puzzling shells, such as " Siplionalia " Kellettii Forbes {^Kellettia of 

 Bayle), which does not offer any serious characters which should separate it 

 from Chrysodomus, as far as yet known. Another group, typified by " Pynila " 

 anomala Reeve, " Siphonalia " pallida (B. & S.) Cpr., and other allied forms, 

 mostly from the western shores of Mexico and Central America, has been 

 referred to Rapana by some writers, while Carpenter, Adams and others 

 placed it with Siphonalia and Tryon united it with Melongena. 



These shells normally have an operculum like Fiisus or Melongena ; they 

 do not, therefore, belong with Rapana, which has a purpuroid operculum. 

 They are certainly not to be united with Chrysodomus, as was done by H. & 

 A. Adams. They are certainly not identical with Strepsidura or Siphonalia 

 proper. It is highly probable that they are, as supposed by Tryon, related to 

 Melongena. But Melongena is a very well-characterized, compact group of 

 large littoral species, having much such a habitat in warm regions as Purpura, 

 which they resemble in mode of life. 



The group in question differs from them in its regularity of sculpt- 

 ure, absence of spines, smaller aperture in proportion to the whole 

 length, small size of the species containing it, and the absence of the 

 posterior sinus near the suture, which characterizes the true Melongena 

 when adult. I propose, therefore, to separate the group above dis- 

 criminated from Melonge?ia, as a genus, hereafter to be reduced in rank if 

 necessary, should more exhaustive researches show its relations to be those of 

 a subgenus rather than a genus. The type will be Solenosteira {Pyrtda) anom- 

 ala Reeve, Conch. Icon., Pyrula, pi. viii. fig. 12, 1847. 



This group is represented in the Caloosahatchie marls by a very elegant 

 species. 



Solenosteira Mengeana n. s. 

 Plate 9, figure i. 



Caloosahatchie Pliocene marls on the Caloosahatchie River and Shell 

 Creek, S. W. Florida. 



Shell with a small, smooth, bulbous nucleus of one and a half whorls, 

 followed by about six sculptured, rapidly enlarging later whorls ; the nucleus 

 is usually lost with the first one or two following turns, so that the apex (as in 



