238 PYRAMIDELLID^. 



Shell subulate, turreted; whorls longitudinally plicate; aper- 

 ture ovate, inner lip with a single plait, outer lip frequently 

 lirate within. 



Syrnola, a. Ad., 1860. 



Distr. — 10 sp. Japan. S. gracillima, A. Ad. 



Shell subulate, straight, vitreous, banded, polished ; whorls 

 flat, suture impressed ; aperture oblong, inner lip obliquely 

 plicate in the middle, outer lip simple, acute. They are readily 

 distinguished from the more oval Odostomia — the species of 

 which are white and destitute of colored markings. Syrnola, in 

 fact, are small slender Obelisei with a single columellar plait. 



AMATHis, A. Ad., 1861. Subulate, smooth, polished, aperture 

 dilated, rounded, acute behind, inner lip with a single plication. 

 6 sp. Japan. S. Virgo ^ A. Ad. 



Syrnolopsis, Smith, 



Distr. — S. lachstris, E. A. Smith (Ixviii, 15, 16). The only 

 species, from Lake Tanganyika, E. Africa (fresh water), is 

 yellowish horn-color, banded with white beneath the suture. 



Shell subulate, smooth, imperforate; aperture broadly sinuated 

 at the base, outer lip sinuous, slightly thickened, produced 

 below, furnished far within with one or two prominent lirae ; 

 columella with a distinct plait. Operculum unknown. 



Family PYRAMIDELLIDJE. 



Shell turriculated, columella with several anterior plications. 

 Operculum corneous, subspiral, the columellar margin sinuated. 



Animal with broad-shouldered, ear-shaped tentacles, connate 

 at the base ; eyes immersed at their inner sides ; mantle enclosed, 

 with a rudimentary siphonal fold ; foot produced and truncate 

 anteriorly, with a fold or mentum in front. Lingual teeth none, 

 or rudimentary. 



The Turbonillidae, just described, have been usually referred 

 to this family, and in fact their distinction is one of convenience 

 only, the number of columellar plications or their absence being 

 characters of small importance. 



" The Pyramidellidae present subjects of much interest to the 

 student of extinct mollusca ; numerous forms, bearing all the 

 aspect of being members of this family, occur amongthe fossils 

 of even the oldest stratified rocks. Many of them are gigantic 

 compared with existing species, and the group, as a whole, may 

 be regarded rather as appertaining to past ages than the present 

 epoch." — Forbes. 



Pyramidella, Lam. 



Etym. — Diminutive of pyramis^ a pyramid, 



Distr. — 25 sp. W. Indies, Australia, Japan, P, pZzca^a, Lam. 

 (Ixviii, U). Fossil. Cretaceous. 



