410 EEV. R. BOOO WATSON ON THE 



jection of the ribs, but otherwise scarcely convex. The last is 

 small, contracting from the top of the ribs, slightly constricted on 

 the base, with a largish conical snout, which is slightly bent to the 

 left, and is very unequal-sided ; the point is scarcely reverted. 

 Suture linear, lying in a very slight groove, but strongly denned 

 by the marginal swelling below, and by the contraction of the pro- 

 file-lines above. Mouth buff and white coloured within, rather 

 small, pear-shaped, angulated at the upper point, and prolonged 

 into the rather wide and open canal below. Outer lip is very 

 slightly concave above, freely convex in the middle, and straight 

 at the canal. It is hardly patulous ; the line of its edge advances 

 straight at first, then retreats towards the left, forming a rather 

 large, shallow, open, rounded sinus, from which it runs out rather 

 slowly into a projecting curve, scarcely retreating till it reaches 

 the end of the canal. It is thin throughout. Inner lip is smoothly 

 excavated in the thickness of the shell and is rather broad ; in its 

 direction it is shortly and slightly concave above, scarcely oblique 

 and quite straight on the pillar, the point of which is obliquely 

 truncated with a sharp twisted edge. II. 12. B. 045. Penul- 

 timate whorl, height 0-19. Mouth, height 0'5, breadth 0-21. 



This species belongs to that large and variable group which 

 gather round the P. Griffithii, Grray, the synonymy and indivi- 

 dual species of which alike require revision. "When the group 

 obtains this revision, it is very possible that the ' Challenger ' 

 species, and not a few others, will be reckoned as mere varieties. 

 In the meantime I cannot unite it to any species I know. It has 

 a much smaller body-whorl than P. Griffithii, Gray. Compared 

 with P. zonata, Eve., the sculpture and the proportion of height 

 to breadth throughout the whorls is very different, the growth is 

 shorter, and the pillar has not the twisted band at the point. It 

 is much smaller than P. Kaderleyi, Lischke, from Japan, is also 

 narrower in proportion, and is differently banded. Than P. lan- 

 ceolata, Eve., which is also a Japanese species, P. pyrrha is 

 much stumpier ; it has spirals on the whole surface, not excepting 

 the ribs (a characteristic feature on which v. Martens dwells in 

 his admirable figure and description of Eeeve's species in the 

 ' Conch. Mitt.' i. p. 39, viii. p. 4) ; it has a much larger and pro- 

 portionally much shorter mouth. Of course if it prove to be a 

 young shell, some of these differences would be accounted for. 



It has some resemblance to P. paretoi, Mayer (Journ. de 



