DESCRIPTION OF A NEW VARIETY OF HALIOTIS FROM 

 CALIFORNIA, WITH FAUNAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL 

 NOTES. 



By Robert E. C. Stearns, Ph. D., 



Honorary Associate in Zoology. 



Of the littoral fauna of that long line of coast extending from Point 

 Bonita, on the north side of the entrance to San Francisco Bay, to Cape 

 Flattery, the southerly point of the entrance to the Strait of Juan de 

 Fuca, a stretch of nearly 700 nautical miles, but little is known. The 

 general aspect of the coast throughout most of its extent is broken, 

 jagged, and rocky, with bold abrupt bluffs, against which in ordinary 

 weather the ocean dashes with greater or less violence, and therefore 

 unfavorable to the field work of the naturalist. 



There are, however, many reaches of a more inviting character, where 

 the rocky shore dips under the sea with so moderate a slope that the 

 zone uncovered at extreme low tides is of considerable width, often 

 seamed and cut up by narrow furrows and channels, with many shal- 

 low pools, and frequently clothed with a heavy growth of bladder weed, 

 altogether presenting a tempting challenge to the collector. 



Then there are sandy flats of considerable area, as at Tomales and 

 Bodega, and gravelly beaches occur, of moderate extent, with occa- 

 sional, sometimes numerous, detached rock masses and bowlders. 



While there are many so-called ports, embarcaderos, or landing 

 places between the points above named, especially along the California 

 coast, a large proportion, perhaps one-half or more of the coastwise 

 settlements indicated on the map, consist of small communities inci- 

 dental to the limited local business. At these places it is often the 

 case there is no harbor, merely a simple roadstead or anchorage, avail- 

 able only in good weather. For the purposes of the collector the 

 immediate neighborhood of many of these places is of trifling impor- 

 tance. The desirable portions of the coast are generally inaccessible by 

 sea and require an outfit for land service, with camp equipage and the 

 usual requisites, with ample appliances for shore work. The best time 

 of the year is the spring, the mouths of March, April, and May, before 

 the harsh westerly winds begin to sweep in from the sea — usually from 

 the first to the middle of June. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum^ Vol. XXII— No. 1191. 



139 



