interior. The central area is dark brown, as a rule. About 
three-eighths of an inch long. 
Found in the North and South Islands: Mount Maunga- 
nui; Bay of Islands; Chatham Islands. 
ACMAEA PILEOPSIS (akme, a point; pilos, a cap; 
opsis, like).—An ovally-rounded limpet of smooth exterior 
with a hooked apex near the front margin. It is of a green- 
ish-brown colour with a number of white or pale greenish- 
white spots, the worn apex being black. The inside is white 
or bluish white with a dark coffee-coloured patch in the 
middle (this portion being known as the central area) and 
a narrow band of brownish black round the margin. The 
A. pileopsis of medium size shows the radiate ribs and 
grooves well developed, in marked contrast to the adult 
shell and the juvenile (A. cantharus), both extremes being 
apparently smooth. It is found high above high-water 
mark, reached only by the spray. About an inch in the 
longest diameter—quite the largest species of acmaea we 
have. 
Mount Maunganui; Kawhia; French Pass; Lyttelton. 
ACMAEA RUBIGINOSA (akme, a point; rubiginosa, 
somewhat red, pinkish)—An oval limpet of a reddish 
colour with white ribs, though generally incrusted thickly 
with nulliporites—a marine growth of vegetable origin. 
The interior is smooth, porcellanous, white, with radiating 
pink rays, or entirely tinged with pink. The margin is 
slightly crimped. Often found attached to the outside of 
Pawa shells, and also on the under surface of smooth rocks 
and loose boulders at extreme low tides. It attains a length 
of three-quarters of an inch. 
Bay of Islands; Mount Maunganui; West Coast of the 
South Island; Lyttelton; Shag Point; Chatham Islands; 
Taumaki Island. 
ACMAEA SEPTIFORMS (akme, a point; septiformis, 
having the form of an enclosure, or septum).—A small 
rounded oval limpet, somewhat flattened, with the apex 
close up to the anterior margin. The sculpture consists of 
radiate ribs chequered with green and white, though the 
colouring is usually obscured with incrustation. The in- 
terior shows well-marked whitish rays on a brown back- 
ground, extending almost from the centre to the margin; 
the margin having a band of smaller short rays of yellow 
and dark brown, also radiately arranged. It is slightly 
over half an inch in length, and is found at Chicken Island, 
West Coast of Manukau, Motutara, Dunedin, Greymouth, 
Auckland and Campbell Islands. 
13 
Plate V 
No. 6 
Plate V 
No. 7 
Plate V 
No. 3 
Sea Shells 
of New Zealand 
