324 JOURNAL OF CONCHOLOGY, VOL. ID, NO. II, JULY, I903. 



6. Pseudoliva ancilla. 



Pseudoliva ancilla Hanley, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1859, p. 429. 



We now come to by far the most interesting member of this Httle 



group, and one which, from its great rarity, and the difificulty of 



obtaining it in good condition, seems almost unknown. It will be 



convenient to give in extenso the original description of the author.^ 



' Testa oblonga, conica^ nitida, soltda, hnperforata, sitblcBvigata, fulvo 



rufesceiis. Ultimus aiifractns in medio pallescens et ventricosus ; 



superne late haud autein profunde^ concaims ; in/erne lente declivis, et 



sulco lato, qui partem fere quartam siiperficiei segregat, incisiis ; cin- 



gulum siphofiale planum ami cifigulo basalivix convexi^isailo conflttens. 



Spira produda tertiam partem longitudinis testce implet; anfractus 



ejus 4 haud humiles infra suturam conspicuam et profundam retusi 



sunt, supra earn coiivexi ; apex ohtusus. Apertura elliptico-acu- 



tninata [duos trientes longitudinis testce fere cequat) postice callo colu- 



mellari alto magno protninente et angulato angustata. Labium 



columellare Iceve, altum, cottvexum, falcatum, latiuscuhan. Long. 1 1, 



lat. ^ poll. 



Hah.^ Caffrariam. Mus. Hanley. 



'I have never seen but a single individual of this remarkable looking 

 shell, which reminds one alike oi Bullia zx\6l Ancillaria. The whorls 

 of the spire are not twice as broad as high. The basal distinctive 

 groove is nearly square cut; its bottom is closely traversed by 

 wrinkles of increase, and is flat, not concave' (S.H.). 



P. ancilla is figured by Mr. G. B. Sowerby,^ accompanied by the 

 following sentences: — "A very remarkable form, the true generic 

 position of which is doubtful, having characters in common with 

 Pseudoliva and Ancillaria. The specimen shown me by Mr. 

 Ponsonby is 51 millimetres (just over two inches) long, and 24 mm. 

 wide in the middle, tapering at each end; of a light reddish-brown 

 colour, with a pale central zone. There was a specimen in the collec- 

 tion of the late Thos. Lombe Taylor, which was acquired by Mr. 

 Melvill, who proposed to give it the subgeneric name of Mariona.^'^ 



This extraordinary shell, more akin perhaps to Pseudoliva than to 

 Macron, seems to differ from any congener in its sloping extended 

 spire, rapidly becoming attenuate, compressed whorls, not in the slightest 

 degree channelled, and unusual coloration. It is likewise isolated in 

 its only known habitat, Kaffraria, all the Macrones being West 

 American, while the true Pseudolivce, so far as is known, are confined 

 to tropical West Africa. With this species are associated, in its native 



1 S. Hanley, " Descriptions of new univalve shells from the collections of Hugh Cuming and 

 Sylvanus Hanley," Proc. Zool. Soc, 1859, P- 429-431 • 



2 /. Conc/t., vol. 6, p. 149, 1889, pi. 3, fig. 2. 



3 This name is preoccupied, having been used for a Nudibranch by Vayssiere in 1879. 



