Art. VIII.—Descriptions of new Land Shells

By Professor F. W. Hutton.

large, rather oblique, subcircular, broader than high; peristome thin, regularly arched, the columellar margin slightly reflected. Greatest diameter 0.07, least 0.055; height 0.03 inch.

Animal.—Body short, eye-peduncles long and thick, tentacles short; mantle rather posterior, enclosed; foot narrow, without locomotive disc, pointed behind, not extending beyond the shell; no caudal gland. Colour pale grey, eye-peduncles and a stripe on each side of the head dark sooty-brown. Dentition 13–1–13.

Hab. Eyreton, North Canterbury (Mr. C. Chilton), Christchurch (Mr. J. F. Armstrong).

Genus Gerontia, g. n.

Animal heliciform; mantle rather posterior, included; tail acute, with a mucous pore but no papilla. Jaw smooth, striated. Shell depressed, umbilicated, of about five gradually-increasing whorls; aperture oblique.

This genus differs from Patula in having a mucous gland on the tail.

Gerontia pantherina, sp. nov.

Shell subdiscoidal, broadly umbilicated, striated, horny brown. Spire slightly convex, whorls five, slowly increasing, rather flat, with rather close but irregular oblique striæ, which are membranous on the upper surface, interstices not reticulated; suture impressed; umbilicus more than one-fourth of the greatest diameter of the shell, perspective; aperture oblique, rotund, slightly flattened below; peristome thin, the margins rapidly converging; columellar margin not reflected.

Greatest diameter 0.37, least 0.33; height 0.16 inch. Teeth, 18–1–18.

Animal.—Top of the head yellow; peduncles and a line on each side of the head black, rest of the body pale grey spotted with dark grey, the spots often collected into groups, a regular line of dark grey spots runs along each side, and they meet on the tail just over the mucous pore; below this line the side of the foot is marked with oblique dark stripes; sole white, the margin with grey spots.

Hab. Greymouth (Mr. R. Helms).

Strobila leiodus, sp. nov.

Shell minute, subdiscoidal, umbilicated, ribbed; colour horny with longitudinal bands of pale rufous. Spire almost flat, but very slightly convex; whorls five, very slowly increasing, rounded, with numerous oblique narrow ribs, about thirty in the tenth of an inch, the interstices finely striated with growth-lines; suture impressed: umbilicus rather narrow, about one-sixth the diameter of the shell, nearly cylindrical, margined with brown: aperture vertical, rather narrow, lunate; peristome simple, thin, the right lip at first ascending, then descending and sweeping forwards, leaving a shallow posterior sinus, afterwards regularly arched, columellar

Sec. Oxygnatha.

Thalassia (?) propinqua, sp. nov.

Shell depressed, striated, narrowly umbilicated; colour pale-horny with numerous narrow zig-zag red bands, which are often broken up into a series of spots. Spire convexly conoidal, apex obtuse; whorls 4–5, rather flattened, the first two smooth, the rest very strongly striated with oblique growth-lines; last whorl carinated, the base rounded; suture impressed: umbilicus narrow: aperture oblique, rotundly lunate, anteriorly subangled; peristome thin, the columellar margin reflected. Greatest diameter 0.24, least 0.2, height 0.16 inch. Dentition, 21–1–21.

Hab. Weka Pass (C. Chilton).

Allied to T. zealandiœ, but less acutely keeled, more strongly striated and differently coloured; its generic position is doubtful.

Zonites (?) helmsi, sp. nov.

Shell depressed, umbilicated, finely ribbed, rather shining; colour horny-brown, sometimes longitudinally banded or spotted with red-fuscous. Spire convex, depressed obtuse; whorls 5½—6, slowly increasing, rounded, broader than high, ornamented with thin rather distant ribs, about 10 to 15 in the tenth of an inch, the insterstices finely reticulated; suture impressed; umbilicus narrow, about one-seventh of the greatest diameter of the shell, open, perforate: aperture oblique, lunately rotund; peristome thin, regularly arched, the columellar lip scarcely reflected. Greatest diameter 0.35, least 0.3, height 0.23 inch.

Animal.—Body elongated, the eye-peduncles long and thick, tentacles moderate; foot very long and narrow, compressed, not tapering, truncated posteriorly and with a caudal gland; mantle slightly reflected. Colour variable—(a.) Entirely slate-grey, or reddish-brown, (b.) upper parts slategrey, foot yellowish speckled or marbled with grey, (c.) white with a few black spots, the upper anterior parts of the body, except a pale band on the top of the head, slate-grey.

Dentition, 25–1–25. Jaw ribbed.

Hab. Greymouth, sent by Mr. R. Helms, after whom I have much pleasure in naming it.

Zonites (?) Fulminata, sp. nov.

Shell depressed, very narrowly umbilicated, striated; colour pale horny with numerous longitudinal zig-zag red bands on the body-whorl, which show only as irregular radiating bands on the spire. Spire slightly convex; whorls 5½, slowly increasing, rounded, smooth, with a fine striation of growth-lines; suture impressed; umbilicus very narrow, almost covered up by the reflected columellar margin of the peristome; aperture subvertical, transversely lunately rotund; peristome thin, regularly arched, columellar lip callous, reflected. Greatest diameter 0.34, least 0.27, height 0.23.

Dentition, 38–1-38. Jaw ribbed.

These two species differ from Zonites in the jaw, I propose to put them in a new genus to be called Phacussa.

This species appears to approach H. venulata, Pfeiff., which I have not seen; but that shell is said to be imperforate, downy, and differently coloured from this one.

Hab. Stewart Island (Mr. T. Kirk, a single specimen).

Sec. Agnatha.

Rhytida patula, sp. nov.

Shell depressed, umbilicated, thinnish, translucent, scarcely shining, finely malleated; colour brown, yellowish at the apex. Spire rather convex, obtuse; whorls 3½–4, rapidly increasing, rounded, the first 2¼ transversely plaited, the remainder with numerous small longitudinal depressions, and a few obsolete broad spiral grooves near the periphery; under the lens finely spirally striated; last whorl very large, the last quarter occupying more than half the diameter of the shell, the base evenly rounded; suture impressed: umbilicus rather narrow: aperture very large, oblique, oblongoval; peristome slightly thickened, the right margin descending, columellar margin reflected over the umbilicus, but not covering it. Greatest diameter 0.9, least 0.63; height 0.4; breadth of aperture 0.5.

Animal.—Foot broad, flattened, and acutely pointed behind, the margin minutely crenulated, tail extending beyond the shell; no caudal gland, nor

Testacella vagans, n. s. = Daudebardia novæ-zealandiæ, Trans. N.Z. Inst., xiv., p. 152 (not of Pfeiffer).

Shell auriform, subspiral, depressed, imperforate; elongately oval, the sides nearly parallel, the anterior end rather broader than the posterior; columellar margin callous; apex subspiral, posterior; pale horny, striated with growth-lines. Length of aperture 0.37; breadth 0.22. Teeth, 15-0-15.

Animal (in spirit) above slate grey, gradually passing into yellowish white on the sides; sole yellowish white; the sides rather marbled with grey.

Hab. Auckland (T. F. Cheeseman), and Waiuku (T. Kirk).

The specimen described in the Trans. N.Z. Inst. for last year was without its shell, and consequently I thought that it was Daudebardia novæ-zealandiæ, the shell but not the animal of which species I know, but Mr. Cheeseman has sent me a specimen with the shell on, and it proves to be quite different. The shell is much like that of T. mangei, but the dentition appears to be different.

Sec. Neurobranchiata.

Leptopoma pannosa, sp. nov.

Shell conical, subcarinated, umbilicated, brown, covered with a dark fuscous, ragged epidermis. Spire acutely conical; whorls six, rather flattened, the last convex below and rounded at the angle; apical whorls showing close oblique growth-lines; base flattish with close growth-lines crossed by delicate spiral striæ; suture impressed: epidermis forming ragged oblique, rather distant plaits on the whorls, and at the periphery produced into triangular pointed processes: umbilicus narrow, open: aperture rather oblique, broadly ovate; peristome thin, regularly arched, or slightly angulated at the periphery, slightly patulous, margins not meeting.

Height 0.13, diameter 0.11 inch.

Operculum thin, transparent, horny, yellow, subcircular, of five gradually enlarging whorls; nucleus subcentral.

Animal like Cyclostomus; pale grey, the tentacles darker; rostrum whitish. Tentacles short, rather stout, pointed; eyes large, at their outer bases. Dentition, 3-1-3.

Hab. Greymouth, under very damp logs and earth (Mr. R. Helms).

In shape this species is much like Hydrocana rubens, Q. & G. (Cyclostoma) from Mauritius, figured in Adams' Genera of Mollusca, pl. 87, fig. 2, but the operculum is quite different.

Leptopoma calva, sp. nov.

Shell conical, reddish brown with a thin spiral pale band below the periphery; spire acutely conical; whorls 6½, rather flattened, the last convex below and rounded: epidermis smooth, forming numerous fine oblique