74 ON THE PATELLA AMiENA. 



Patella virginea. Miiller Zool. Dan. vol. iii. p. 2867. 



Patella virginea? Gmelin, p. 3711. Dillwyn, p. 1052. Fleming's Br. Ani. p. 287. 



Patella clypeus. Mr. S. Ker's Letter. 



Lottia* Antillarum? Sow. Conch. Manual, fig. 231. 



This species oi Patdloida seems to have escaped the attention of Lamarck, 

 which surprises me the more as its geographical distribution is very extensive. 

 Linneus and Schroter give the habitat of Patella testudinaria as in the Nor- 

 wegian seas; but it is evident that these writers have confounded the two spe- 

 cies, the testudinaria being a southern species, while the testudinalis is a north- 

 ern one. Miiller says it inhabits Norway. Fabricius mentions it as being 

 common on the shores of Greenland. I have a suite of specimens from Green- 

 land, which came from the extensive cabinet of Prince Christian of Denmark. 

 Some very fine specimens were also sent to me from Hudson's Bay, by Go- 

 vernor Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company; and Mr. S. Ker, many years 

 since presented it to me under the name of Patella chjpeus, from Greenock, in 

 Scotland. It is also found in abundance on the rocks at Nahant, in Massachu- 

 setts, and in Maine, and other parts of our northern coast. 



Chemnitz and Ksemmerer have both made excellent representations of this 

 shell ; the former the most perfect. Dillwyn and other authors quote the Pa- 

 tella radiata Born, for this species; but a reference to his figure (pi. 18, fig. 10) 

 will satisfy any one who knows the shell that this is an error. Nor is Dillwyn, 

 correct in giving the P. virgata of Gmelin as a synonym. Deshayes refers to 

 Schroter's P. testudinaria; but I think that Schroter had the India shell in 

 view when describing that species, which is very different and much larger. 



* Mr. Sowerby, in his Conch. Manual, p. 59, gives precedence to Mr. Gray's generic name of Lottia over that 

 oi Patelloida of Quoy and Gaimard. Deshayes says (vol. vii. p. 549) that he retains the name of Fcitelloida as 

 being the first given. 



