UNIVALVES. 



PLATE VI. 



Genus. TRIPLEX. 

 Character. Shell spiral, three- formed, with a three-fold spire, armed with leafy 

 spines, placed alternately ; the beak long, and armed with a calcar or spur ; the 

 mouth oval, having a fringed edge. 



Species. 



No. 1. Triplex frondosa. Shell reddish brown, the spines elegantly branched 

 out, variously ; the mouth of a pale gray. Lately discovered on the coasts 

 of New Holland, and drawn from one in the Museum of Colonel Patterson. 



No. 2. Triplex flavicunda. Shell of a purple or black, verging to a brown ; 

 spines diversified in length and form ; mouth of a bright yellow, lined with 

 gray. A native of New Holland. From the Museum of Dr. Combe. 



No. 3. Triplex rosaria. Shell red, interspersed with pink- coloured lines ; the 

 spines blunted, and reverted very suddenly ; the spur and beak richly orna- 

 mented with elegant ligatures ; mouth of a pale gray. The original, in Mr. 

 Bligh's Collection, is from the Island of Ceylon. 



No. 4. Triplex rubicunda. Shell black, faintly verging to a brown, the mouth 

 of a beautiful red, forming a delightful contrast, lined with purple. A na- 

 tive of Amboyna and the Persian gulf. In the Museum of Lord Valentia. 



No. 5. Triplex abortiva. Shell elegantly formed, and of a brown red ; the 

 spines short and abortive ; the mouth white. Native place unknown. From 

 the Museum of Dr. Combe. 



REMARKS. 



The genus Triplex is almost wholly new to Naturalists, and possesses many beautiful spe- 

 cies, at least as far as respects their curious and elegant forms : it appears that Linnaeus 

 never saw more than one of these shells, and being unwilling to make a new genus for its in- 

 sertion, he called it Murex frondosus, a circumstance which has led his followers into many 

 mistakes ; for nothing can be more opposite to a Murex : witness the beak invested with 

 spines, and the calcar, or reverted spur, which the Murex has not at all. Lamarck, to whom 

 modern Conchology is so highly indebted, has, notwithstanding his usual accuracy, out of 

 respect to Linnaeus, we suppose, adopted his mistake, and having discovered an elegant 

 fossil Triplex, has erroneously named it Murex tripteris, an error which we hope to see 

 amended in a future edition of his Systema Generum. It has already been observed that 

 the beak is generally ornamented with spines ; these are usually three in number, and some- 

 times more, as the species vary ; but the calcar or spur is always uniform, and placed in the 

 opposite side. In the Systema Generum, therefore, which will be inserted in the Index to 

 the present Work, this new and interesting genus will stand in the third place, answering 

 to its own name, Triplex, and immediately succeeding the Biplex genus. 



