1927] Pilsbry-Bequaert, The Aquatic Mollusks of the Belgian Congo AIL 
I].—Mantle very shortly concrescent below the branchial orifice. 
Genus Aspatharia, subgenus Spathopsis.! | 
Aspatharia (Spathopsis) wahlbergi: See Ortmann, 1918, The Nautilus, XX XI, 
pp. 77-78. 
Aspatharia (Spathopsis) rubens: See Rang, 1835, Nouv. Ann. Mus. Paris, IV, 
pp. 315-316; Troschel, 1847, Archiv f. Naturgesch., XIII, 1, pp. 273-274, Pl. v1, 
fir. 2: 
Aspatharia (Spathopsis) rubens cailliaudi: See Clessin, 1875, Malakoz. Blatter, 
XXII, pp. 22-24, Pl. 1, fig. 2. 
III.—Mantle entirely open between branchial and pedal orifices. 
Genus Aspatharia proper. : 
Aspatharia kamerunensis: See Ortmann, 1910, The Nautilus, XXIV, pp. 39-42. 
Aspatharia sinuata: Specimens from Avakubi, examined by us. 
Key to African genera of Mutelidz 
1. The straight hinge has a narrow ridge in place of lateral teeth, a ledge diverging 
from the beaks forward representing pseudocardinals; shell thin, strongly 
compressed, polished, bialate... 0. ee ae. Pseudospatha Simpson. 
Hinge toothless, or with only a low blunt projection under the beaks ..... bak 
Hinge having a series of many short teeth (taxodont)................... aee 
2. Hinge-plate abruptly or obliquely terminated posteriorly by a rather deep tri- 
angular sinulus; shell oval or oblong.............. Aspatharia Bourguignat. 
Hinge-plate not abruptly terminated posteriorly; shell rather long and narrow 
or “wedwe=sliaped Oe ee ee els Ce one Mutela Scopoli. 
3. Hinge-plate narrow, the teeth weak and short, mainly anterior to the beaks. 
Some species of Mutela Scopoli. 
Hinge-plate and teeth well or strongly developed............ Iridina Lamarck. 
Mutelinz 
ASPATHARIA Bourguignat | 
Spatha subgenus Aspatharia BouRGUIGNAT, 1885, ‘Esp. Nouv. Ouk. Tanganika,’ 
p. 14. Monotype: Margaritana vignouana Bernardi = Anodonta rugifera Dunker. 
Asphataria ‘‘Bourguignat” A. T. DE ROCHEBRUNE AND GERMAIN, 1904, Mém. 
Soc. Zool. France, XVII, p. 24. Misspelling of Aspatharia Bourguignat. 
Muteline with oblong or oval shell and toothless hinge-plate, which is more or 
less abruptly terminated posteriorly by the deep triangular sinulus, and often has a 
low, blunt, toothlike prominence under the beak of the left valve. Scar of the foot 
protractor muscle of moderate or large size, and lengthened in the direction of the shell 
axis. Mantle margins either shortly concrescent below the branchial orifice or open 
from branchial to pedal orifices. 
The genus is exclusively Ethiopian, extending also along the valley 
of the Nile into Lower Egypt. 
1Aspatharia chaiziana seems to us to belong by conchological characters to Spathopsts, but the 
mantle is entirely open below, according to Rang (1835, Nouv. Ann. Mus. Paris, IV, p. 307, Pls. xxvuI 
and xx1x)—a character of Aspatharia proper. The possibility of breakage of a short mantle connection 
is to be considered, or perhaps the character is more variable than we now suppose. 
