Sea Shells 
of New Zealand 
Plate ITI 
No. 11-1la. 
Plate III 
No. 13 
Plate III 
No. 12-12a. 
terminates in a shallow notch at the base, which takes the 
place of a canal. It is just under a quarter of an inch in 
height, and is of a “light brown, reddish brown, or almost 
black colour.” (Suter). 
Whangaroa and Manukau Harbours; Mount Maunga- 
nui; Kawhia; New Plymouth; Lyttelton. 
FULGURARIA ARABICA (fulgur, lightning; Arabic). 
__A handsome shell of a yellowish or pale chestnut brown, 
with tracings of narrow blackish-brown lines, arranged 
longitudinally down the body whorl, in somewhat erratic 
zigzag fashion, like the graphic records on a temperature 
chart. These lines become thicker, and are closer together 
at certain levels on the body whorl, and so present an 
appearance of three dark bands spirally disposed. The 
shape is graceful, the large body whorl being elongated 
and the spire tapering to a fine point. A row of nodules 
on the shoulder of the whorls give an ornamental finish, 
the same decoration being carried out almost to the apex 
of the spire. The mouth shows four or five large oblique 
plaits on the columellar lip. Some specimens may be found 
with a predominance of the dark tracings; others vary in 
the mode of sculpture, the nodes being sometimes merely 
rudimentary or, on the other hand, standing out boldly and 
extending a little distance down the whorl as vertical ribs. 
Specimens have been known to reach nine inches in length, 
but usually five or six inches is the average size. It is 
found on sandy beaches, washed ashore after storms. 
North and South Islands. Mount Maunganui; Foveaux 
Strait. 
FULGURARIA ARABICA var. ELONGATA (fulgur, 
lightning; Arabic; elongated ).—Similar to the species, but 
much more rare. . It has no nodes on the whorls, which are 
not shouldered, and the shell is more elongated. The col- 
ouring is the same as in the species, perhaps more often 
yellowish or maize colour. The generic name, fulguraria, 
is in allusion to the dark zigzag tracings, giving the impres- 
sionist idea of forked lightning. 
North and South Islands. Mount Maunganui. 
FULGURARIA ARABICA var. JACULOIDES (ful- 
gur, lightning; Arabic; jaculum, a dart, a javelin; oidos, 
like) —A new sub-species recently dredged in deep water, 
and distinguished by its most elegant design. Its highly 
classical outlines recall the ancient amphora, or two-handled 
wine jar, such as one sees in Pompeii, made of clay, tall 
and narrow, with a pointed base in place of a foot. The 
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