223 



it to Sowerby. In 1849 Reeve says, "It was first described 

 by Mr. Broderip from a specimen of rather large size in the 

 celebrated Tankerville Collection, now in the British 

 Museum," and places Broderip's name before Sowerby's in 

 his references. This strange mistake evidently misled Pet- 

 terd, who cites Broderip as the author of the species ; but 

 later writers correctly give Sowerby his due. Reeve is the 

 first to give the habitat of the species, namely, South Aus- 

 tralia. In my copy of the Tankerville Catalogue the price 

 against the type specimen is £31 10s. 



Variations. — It is very variable; one from Adcock's col- 

 lection, not quite mature, is 7 in. long by 17*7 cm. by 8*3 cm. 

 The type is described as 6 in. by 3 in. Mr. Mathews tells me 

 in a letter that the largest he has seen was 8 in. by 3^ in., 

 taken on Troubridge Island. But a mature shell, with 

 ascending suture and fully-formed lip, may be only 3 in. 

 by 1'55 in. 



Another example is 4'3 in. by 17 in., so that if it were 

 6 in. long it would be only 2 "4 wide — more than J in. less in 

 diameter than the type. The shoulder, too, may be more 

 marked than in the type, which is rather high-shouldered, 

 and may be somewhat more concave below the suture. When 

 senile the inner lip may have a thick axial pad of callus 

 extending a full inch beyond the aperture. The glaze of the 

 inner lip not only extends very far laterally over the body- 

 whorl, but towards the spire for half an inch or more above 

 the suture, and in shells with rusty-brown staining this covers 

 the stain over and leaves a broad, wavy, whitish band above 

 the suture throughout the last spire-whorl. 



Tryon says, "V. fulgetrum, in fact, is intermediate 

 between V. fusiformis and V. papillosa, and very probably 

 the three are merely diverse forms of one species." I think 

 the three species are distinct, the protoconch of S. fulgetrum 

 is a sufficient diagnostic from either of the other species. 



Sowerby, in the Thes. Conch., refers to one variety (S. 

 dictua, n. var., Verco, Trans. Roy. Soc, S.A., 1909, vol. 

 xxxiii., p. 274, pi. xxi., fig. 7) which has only a delicate 

 reticulate lace-like colouration, and a second which has two 

 rows of chestnut spots on the last volution. But the colour 

 variations are quite numerous. 



1. There is the typical shell with the axial zizag brown 

 dashes from which the shell derives its name. It will be 

 noticed these tend to have two spiral rows of blotches, one 

 just below the shoulder and the other over the lower part of 

 the body-whorl. The blotches are roughtly crescentic or 

 arrow-headed, with their concavity towards the outer lip. 

 At the suture the markings are flame-like. 



