Vol. 5, p. 301-315. August 8, 1930 



Occasional Papers 



OF THE 



Boston Society of Natural History. 



NOTES ON PHYSIDAE WITH DESCRIPTIONS 

 OF NEW SPECIES. 



BY WILLIAM J. CLENCH. 



William Turton (1807, p. 169) in his catalogue published a 

 description of Bulla rivalis. According to Kennard and Wood- 

 ward (1926, p. 99) Turton obtained the diagnosis and the name 

 of this species from Maton and Rackett (1807, p. 126) in a 

 paper which had been presented to the Society three years 

 before it was published. Their locality citation is Hampshire, 

 England. Both made the same reference to Chemnitz (1786, 

 vol. 9, pi. 103, fig. 877-878) which is listed as Bulla fontinalis 

 Linne. On the same plate two additional figures of Physa are 

 given (fig. 879-880) with a caption of Bulla fontinalis Indiae 

 Occidentalis. Hence the original diagnosis was assumed to be 

 wrong by many subsequent writers and the species credited to 

 the West Indies. Kennard and Woodward (1926, p. 99) have 

 given a complete synonymy for this species, recognizing it as a 

 British form. Unfortunately, however, they have included in 

 their synonomy a large number of North American species of 

 Physa with no reasons stated for so doing. It is quite impossible 

 to understand why two distinctive species as Physa osculans 

 and P. heterostropha should be synonymized under any European 

 species of Physa. 



The non-recognition of B. rivalis Turton by British scientists 

 as a local species seems to be fair proof that it has no value 

 whatsoever and is at best only an ecological form of the well 

 known European Physa fontinalis Linne. Adding this species 

 to the synonymy of Physa fontinalis, does not mean that the 

 list of synonyms appended by Kennard and Woodward (1926, 

 p. 99-100) to P. rivalis should be carried over at all. Many 

 of their so-called synonyms are recognizable species. 



301 



