CURIOSITIES OF DISTRIBUTION 281 



whose shallow-water sisters are characteristic of cold 

 and temperate seas : such are Lima, Nttmla, Nuculmia, 

 Yoldia, and A bra. It is even the fact, according to 

 Mr E. A. Smith, that the British species Lticina 

 spinifera, Montagu (Fig. 77), is found in the Bay of 

 Bengal at a depth of 200-350 fathoms, where the 

 bottom-temperature was found to be 53°-49°.8 Fahr. 

 Again, Lucina bengalensis, E. A. Smith, from 410 

 fathoms in the Bay of Bengal, is very closely related 

 to, and Solenomya patag07iica, E. A. Smith, is actually 

 identical with, respective species dredged by the Chal- 

 lenger in Magellan Strait in 245 fathoms. Further- 

 more, Limopsis indica, E. A. Smith, which is common 

 in the Laccadive Sea at depths of 142-1200 fathoms, 

 is regarded by Mr Smith as only a modification of, 

 and Poromya tornata, Jeffreys, from 1997 fathoms in 

 the Bay of Bengal, as identical with, respective species 

 occurring in the Mid Atlantic at 1850 fathoms. Finally, 

 in Mr Smith's opinion, Lima indica, E. A. Smith 

 (Fig. 78), from 430 fathoms off the coast of Travan- 

 core, is hardly more than a variety of the Norwegian 

 Lima excavata, Chemnitz, and of the Japanese Lima 

 goliath, Sowerby. Lima indica is also interesting as, 

 like so many shallow-water bivalves, it harbours a 

 little crab, Pinnoteres abyssicola, in its mantle-chamber. 



The characteristic deep-sea genus of scallops, 

 Amussium (Fig. 79), is represented in Indian lati- 

 tudes by five species, one of which, Am-ussitmi soli- 



