27 



SEPIA BURNUPI n.sp. FROM NATAL. 



By W. E. HOYLE, D.Sc. 



(Read before the Society. Dec. 9, 1903). 



Plate I. 



The Shell only is known ; it is very long and narrow, and compara- 

 tively thick, and may be roughly likened in shape to a spear-head : 

 the greatest breadth is well in front of the middle, the lateral margins 

 are evenly curved, and the anterior end bluntly pointed. The chitin- 

 ous tnargin (almost entirely lost) appears to have been very narrow. 

 The dorsal surface is smooth, its two lateral thirds being covered by 

 an extension of the chitinous margin ; along the middle line is a 

 raised fillet, about one-fifth as broad as the shell ; in the young shells 

 it becomes evanescent in the posterior third, but in the larger speci- 

 mens continues till interrupted by the breaking of the shell. The 

 ventral surface is strongly convex, except for a narrow groove down 

 the centre, which is more pronounced in the young shells ; the last 

 loculus has an index of about thirty-four in the larger shells and 

 forty-six in the smaller; the striated area is convex except for the 

 median groove above mentioned, hence the thickness of the shell ; 

 the inner cone is but feebly developed, its two limbs are narrow 

 chitinous fillets, which simply curve round the striated area, forming 

 no definite conical depression ; on the other hand, the outer cone, 

 formed by a posterior expansion of the chitinous margin, is large and 

 well developed ; the spine is conical, acute, and curves very slightly 

 towards the dorsal surface. 



Dimensions. 

 Register number i88 189 190 191 



— (broken anteriorly) (broken) (broken) 



mm. mm. mm. mm. 



Length - 49 45 117 112 



Breadth - 975 8 19 20 



The above measurements can only be taken as approximate, as the 

 specimens are all somewhat damaged. 



The species above described is based on an examination of five 

 shells, numbered in my register 188-192 ; they were obtained as 

 follows : — 



i88\ Umkomaas, Natal, collected by Mr. Burnup, numbered by him 

 189/ 1943, and sent to me by Mr. J. H. Ponsonby. 

 190"! Port Elizabeth, Natal; given to the British Museum by Mr. 

 191 j H. A. Spencer, and registered 90-12-14-42, 43, 44. I am 

 ^92 J indebted to Mr. E. A. Smith for the opportunity of examining 

 these specimens. 



