227 



3- Circe lirata Romer. 



1869. Circe lirata Romer, Mon. Venus, p. 208, pi. LIX, fig. 2. 



1909. Circe lirata Lynge, D. Kgl. Dansk. Vidensk. Selsk. Skr. Nat. Math., (7) V, p. 231, 

 figs. 28 — 31. 



The shells of this beautiful species, as was remarked by Lynge, vary a great deal in 

 référence to their colour. The gênerai background is of a white or cream colour vvith a large 

 number of elongated radial blotches scattered ail over the surface ; in some cases two broad 

 bands radiata from the umbones to the ventral margin, while a few uniformly white shells are 

 also to be found in larg"e séries. On young shells and on the umbonal région of the unworn old 

 shells the outwardly radiating transverse ridges, in some cases appearing as inverted V-shaped 

 ridges, are distinctly marked; thèse are well shown in Romer's and Lynge's figures, and are 

 what Romer described as „grobe Ouerfalten, die aus zwei in der Mitte zusammenstossenden 

 Bogen bestehen und nach aussen dicker werden". 



I can not agrée with Lynge that Gafrariimi navigahtm Hedley ^) is synonymous with 

 this species, as the form, sculpture and the hinge of the two species are quite différent. 



Distribution : — Circe lirata was described from the China Sea, and has since been 

 recorded from the Gulf of Siam. In the British Muséum (Nat. Hist.), London, there is also a 

 shell of the species from Mindanao, Philippines. 



In the "Siboga" collection the species is represented by a young shell collected at the 

 Anchorage ofif the South Point of Kabaëna Island (St. 209), a single valve taken in the Bay 

 of Pidjot, Lombok (St. 33) and an adult shell at the Anchorage off North Ubian (St. 99). 



4. Circe nana Melvill. (Plate VI, figs. 13, 14). 



1898. Circe nana Melvill, Mem. Proc. Manchester Lit. Phil. Soc, XLII, pt. II, p. 31, pi. II, fig. 9. 



1906. Circe nana Melvill & Standen, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 831. 



1909. Circe nana Lynge, D. Kgl. Dansk. Vidensk. Selsk. Skr. Nat. Math., (7) V, p. 231. 



The type-shell of Circe nana is greatly weathered and does not show the beautiful 

 sculpture of the species. In fresh, young shells the sculpture, as was noted by Lynge, consists 

 of a large number of ridges radiating outwards to the margins in a fan-shaped manner. There 

 are, in addition, a large number of close-set concentric striae, and as a resuit of the crossing of 

 the numerous radial and concentric striae the surface of the valves becomes ornamented with a 

 very large number of rounded to ovoidal tubercles. On the older parts of the valves, particularly 

 in the middle, the concentric ridges alone are prominent, but traces of the radial ridges are 

 to be distinguished as slight indentations on both sides of the concentric ridges. I figure a 

 young shell. 



Distribution: — Circe nana was described from the Indian Océan (Long. 26° 10' N., 

 Lat. 52°5o'E.), and has since been recorded from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Siam. 



In the "Siboga" collection there are a number of young and an adult shell of the species 

 dredged at the Anchorage south coast of Timor (St. 285; 34 mètres). 



I) Hedley, C. — Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, XXXI, p. 476, pi. XXXVIII, fig. 33 (1906). 



