38 



the genus are known in the Australian seas — H. musletlina (Angas) Proc. 

 Zool. Soc, London,, 1871 t.L, f.5., which is banded with grey and brown 

 and has a quadriplicate columella ; and H. fusiformis (Hinds) with a 

 conical spire and quadriplicate columella. 



Among shell sand from the Marino Beach, Holdfast Bay, and 

 Aldinga, St. Vincent's Gulf. (Tate) ; two examples. 



GENUS ERATO. 

 8. — Erato bimaculata (new species). 



Shell minute, ovately pyriform, pale primrose-yellow to yellowish 

 white, with rufous-red around the extremity of the anterior canal and on 

 the callous border to the hinder part of the aperture ; body whorl 

 swollen, constricted at the base ; outer lip stoutly swollen, extending to 

 the apex of the spire, with about twenty-five strong, transverse plicae ; 

 aperture very narrow, curved, emargiuate posteriorly ; columella with 

 eight crowded transverse plaits. Length -17, breadth "12 inch. 



E. bimaculata closely resembles E. angulifera (Reeve) from Borneo, 

 but it has a less angular and inflated body whorl, and the colouration is 

 peculiar. Three other species are known to inhabit the Australian seas, 

 but they have little affinity with our shell. 



Washed Up. — St. Vincent's Gulf at Aldinga and Marino, six ex- 

 amples {Tate) ; at the Semaphore, one example (Bednatt), on the East 

 Coast ; and at Surveyor's Point on the West Coast, two exs. (Tate). 

 Spencer's Gulf at Wauraltie, one ex. (Tate). 



Reeve's " Monograph of Marqinella " was concluded in January, 

 1865 ; it includes descriptions and figures of 15 species, which were then 

 or are now known to be Australian, in a little more than a decade the 

 number has been doubled. At the present time 185 species at the 

 least are living chiefly in tropical seas, but extending into warm tempe- 

 rate regions in the Mediterranean, California, S. Africa, and Australasia. 

 Of the 32 species recorded for Australia five only belong to the tropical 

 part, and the large number of 27 extra-tropical forms makes this area 

 the chief centre of habitation of the genus in so far as regards the tempe- 

 rate portions of the ocean ; and in tertiary times it would appear to have 

 been the focus of distribution of the genus. 



The geographical distribution of the Australian species of the family 

 Marginellidae is shown by the accompanying table ; from which we learn 



