140
lief. 522, p. 71, or H. B 1 1823 Type Alcadm {Id Bl., V. 9, p. 197, from Baker.
PUBLIC.
Shell Album. By H' cards. O'Brien Color SI $1.75. 1953.— This loose includes beautiful color ; key outlines which refer lection and preparation ( amateurs.— H. B. B.
Die Banderschneckei pp., 8 text-figs., 33 maps. —This detailed study of shell-thickness of Cepaec island of Hiddensee, Ger 322 localities. The auth variations and their reU require collection of at le square block (1 hectare) and repetitions of such continuous ranges and { isolated areas. Since gre ing colonies, the island means Hardy 'slaw cam distribution. A similar fasciatus might be very continued for a decade o Praktikum der Weici 21 text-figs. Gustav Fisc manual gives keys to tb orders), directions for ( radulae, dissection and glossary of common teehi amateurs, but its author . be useful to professional
N
's 4>
THE
NAUTILUS
A QUARTERLY JOURNAL
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF CONCHOLOGISTS
VOL. 68 JULY, 1954 to APRIL, 1955
EDITORS AND PTTBLISHEB8
HENRY A. PILSBRY
Curator of thep^epartment of Mollusks and Marine Invertebrates, Academy of Natural Sciences
H. BURRINGTON BAKER
Professor of Zoology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pa.
I^NCAETEB FBI6S, INC., I.ANCA6TE», TA.
CONTENTS
Names of new genera and species in italics.
Alabama 77
Albino 34
American Malacological Union 69
Amygdalum papyria 83
Arctic pelecypods 115
Atlantic . .1, 10, 11, 37, 44, 56, 70, 71, 72, 73, 83, 87, 113, 115, 133
Aulacopod 109
Bambusum Olsson & Harbison, subgenus of Caecum 71
Behavior, Donax 73
Behavior, squids 1, 72
Bulimulus 20
Burial mounds and marines 11
California 51, 82
Cerionoidea 109
Collecting 14
Cretaceous 133
Cyclinella tenuis 70
Dates of The Nautilus 33
Delphinula laxa 10
Donax fossor 73
Elliptio spinosus 132
Emarginula ladowae Eiehman 133
Fisherola 79
Florida 23, 95, 107
Georgia 28, 132
Goodrich, Calvin 104, 135
Gymnophila 110
Hawaii 50
Heterurethrous 109
Holospira riograndensis 34
Humholdtiana durangoensis and H. pilshryi Solem .... 4, 8
Idaho 79
Introduction of eseargots 90
Labyrinthus vs. Lampadion 106
Lanx 79
Liguus 104
Meadows collection of Achatinellidae 50
Melania cancellata 107
Mesodon (Inflectarius) varius Hubricht 65
Mesodon thyroidus 23
m
iv THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (4)
Mesurethra 109
Mexico 3
Moise, Todd Lopez 142
Monadenia fidelis, subsp. haxteriana and salmonensis Tal-
madge 52, 54
Nenia 104
Noetia ponderosa locklini Olsson & Harbison, for N. p.
macneili 72
North Carolina 28, 65
Nudibranchs, preparation 105
Ocenehra (Ocinehrina) emipowlusi and 0. minirosea Ab- bott 41, 43
Oliva, variation 34, 66
Oregon 51, 79
Pacific 14, 34, 66, 115
Peale collection 123
Pecten chazaliei vs. P. tereinus 113
Persian Gulf 46
Pilsbry chair of malacology 104
Polygyra texasiana 77
Polygyrellinae Ill
Radula, variation in number of cusps 44
Raymond, William James 98
Rush, Raymond C 102
Setaepoma Clench, genus of Synceridae 134
Solomon Islands 134
South Carolina 29
Spiraxidae Ill
Stephens, Mrs. Kate 72
Terehra (Myurella) floridana stegeri Abbott 39
T. {Strioterehrum) areas Abbott 40
Texas 20, 34
Triodopsis fallax affinis Hubricht 28
Unionidae 104
Utah 127
Virginia 28, 30
Washington 79
Wisconsin 24
Wyoming 34
INDEX TO AUTHORS
Abbott, R. Tucker 37, 123
Allen, J. Frances 56, 83, 87
Arata, George F., Jr 1
Baker, H. Burrington 33, 109
Beetle, Dorothy E 34
Bennett, Susan A 70
Burch, John Bayard 30
Clench, William J 23, 95, 104, 107, 134
Dexter, Ralph W 72, 102
Eichman, Charles Jetter 133
Emerson, William K. (A. Smith &) 98
Grau, Gilbert 113
Griffith, Lela M 14
Haas, Dr. F 46
Hanna, G. D 105
Harbison, A. (Olsson &) 71
Hill, Howard R 66
HolHster, S. C 44
Hubricht, Leslie 28, 65
Jacobson, Morris K 73
Kondo, Yoshio 50
McGinty, Thomas L 142
Morris, Percy A 104
Morrison, J. P. E 79
Nicol, David 115
Olsson, A. A. & A. Harbison 71
Pilsbry, H. A 10, 34
Rawls, Hugh C 77
Rees, Dr. W. J 90
Roberts, H. Radclyffe 104
Roscoe, Ernest J. & Lottie 0 127
Schalie, Henry van der 135
Shetrone, Henry C 11
Simmons, Frank L 20
Smith, Allyn G. & William E. Emerson 98
Smith, F. G. Walton 72
Solem, Alan 3
Talmadge, Robert R 51
Teskey, Margaret C 24, 69
Tomkins, Ivan R 132
Wright, Leon M 72
Wurtz, Charles B 106
Zim, Mrs. Milton W 34
V
The Nautilus
Vol. 68 JULY, 1954 No. 1
A NOTE ON THE FLYING BEHAVIOR OF CERTAIN SQUIDS^
By GEOEGE F. AEATA, JE.2
In view of the interest in the flying or leaping behavior of some of the squids (Rees, 1949) the following account is con- sidered noteworthy. Observations were made on the mechanism by which the squid is enabled to break the surface of the water and on the manner in which the animal is held suspended in flight. Rees mentions many accounts where squid have ap- peared on the decks of vessels during a voyage, but hitherto there have been no reports of the actual flight.
Several instances are reported here which indicate that some squids are not only capable of leaping out of the water, but are also capable of fairly long-sustained flights.
The first observation, involving by far the most spectacular flight, took place at 36° 43.5' north latitude and 79° 20' west longitude on board the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service vessel Theodore N. Gill. On July 29, 1953, at 11 :15 A.M., during a flat calm with a moderate NE ground swell and with the vessel heading N at nine knots, a six inch squid was observed as it glided across the bow of the vessel. The distance of this leap could not be determined as only the final stages were seen. However, after striking the water in front of the vessel the animal remained motionless until the bow of the approaching
1 Contribution No. 12^from the Marine Laboratory, University of Miami.
2 The Marine Laboratory, University of Miami.
Note: Observations resulting from vessel operation of the South Atlantic Fishery Investigations, in cooperation with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Naval Eeseareh, U. S. Naval Hydrographic Office, and the States of Florida and Georgia.
2 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
vessel came to within about ten feet. At this time the squid darted to one side, turned and leaped from the water backwards, emitting a fine stream of water from the head region, which at this time was to the rear in relation to the direction of flight. By the time the jet of water had ceased flowing the fins were spread and the tentacles were pressed together (side by side and seemingly curved downward) forming a sort of hood to add to the supporting elements needed for flight. The squid attained a height of about six to eight feet from the M^ater surface and shot in a straight line diagonally across the bow of the vessel for approximately forty to fifty feet and landed in the w'ater flat on its ventral surface. As the weather was flat calm there was no wind to support this flight. It might be added here that the day was bright and clear. During the morning many slicks M^ere seen and also frequent patches of sargassum weed. Many flying fish {Cypselurus heterurus) were also observed.
When first seen the dorsal surface of this squid was colored royal blue, which closely matched the water color. Upon strik- ing the water the blue color immediately faded and the animal remained motionless, showing a complete absence of pigmenta- tion. When the squid darted from side to side under the water surface this lack of pigmentation was evident and no color returned until flight was resumed. Upon alighting the second time the color again faded, but only for an instant. As the bow of the vessel approached, the squid turned dark red and was last seen swimming downward.
The second instance of leaping or flight occurred at approxi- mately 26° 24' north latitude and 76° 48' west longitude while on station. Night fishing operations with a light had just been started at dusk and two small squids were seen feeding at the surface. A small shark (CarcharJiinus longimanus), which was captured later, swam up under them and at that instant the two squid turned dark red and shot from the water, using a jet of water for propulsion in a manner similar to that described above. They leaped approximately eight feet above the water surface and sailed into the bulkhead of the vessel just under the boat deck.
The weather conditions that prevailed during the second observation were similar to the first except that a slight chop was coming from the east. The fishing operations were carried out
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 3
facing east so the squid in this ease took off downwind, which would further substantiate their ability of supported flight.
Although the specimens mentioned were not recovered, three additional specimens were captured via dip-net in the same area and were identified by Mr. Gilbert L. Voss of the Marine Labo- ratory, University of Miami, as Stenoteuthis hartrami and Om- mast replies sagittatus. The latter has apparently never been reported as flying and it is not certain that the observations recorded here pertain to this species. Members of the family Ommastrephidae are known as the ''flying squids" and have been reported from the decks of vessels, but since the actual specimens were not captured in this ease, no positive statements can be made. Members of the genus Stenoteuthis are similar in body to Ommastrephes, and it is possible that a member of this genus was one of those seen in flight.
A third observation of flight was made by a deckhand on board the vessel on January 30, 1954, at 0850. This occurred at approximately 27° 00' N latitude and 79° 18' W longitude. The squid was seen breaking the surface tail first, emitting a fine jet of water and sailing about twenty feet diagonally across the bow. The vessel was steering 332°, there was a ten knot NE wind and there was a slight surface chop. Contrary to the case in the instances previous, this squid took off quartering the wind.
Literature Cited
Rees, W. J. 1949. Note on the hooked squid, Onychoteuthis banksi. Proc. Malaco. Soc. London 28, Pt. I.
NOTES ON MEXICAN MOLLUSKS. I: DURANGO,
COAHUILA AND TAMAULIPAS, WITH
DESCRIPTION OF TWO NEW
HUMBOLDTIANA
By ALAN SOLEM Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan
In recent years a number of lots of mollusks have been brought back from Mexico by staff members and students of the Univer- sity Museums. "While from widely scattered localities and gen-
4 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
erally consisting of only a few specimens, they are of great interest as the localities represented are generally very inaccessi- ble and but little of Mexico is well known conchologically. Re- ports are being prepared on the material and, for convenience, are being grouped geographically.
In the course of paleontological field work, Robert M. Linsley of the University Museum of Paleontology collected a few mol- lusks from the Durango-Coahuila border. The specimens were found near the central portion of the Sierra de Tlahualilo, and 25 miles north of the town of Tlahualilo.
Buliniulus (Rhahdotns) schiedeaniis (Prr.) was found aesti- vating on bushes both on the plain (ca. 3600') and on the top of the range (ca. 4800').
Holospira {Halplocion) durangoensis Bartsch (1906: 142- 143) was found on the faces of limestone rock on the slope of the mountain only. Previously reported only from Durango, Durango, this species was omitted from the summary of Haplocion given by Bartsch (1943: 56), but included by Pils- bry (1953:151). Adult, non-decollated specimens have 11-13 whorls and range in length from 26-32 mm.
In 1948 Paul S. Martin of the Museum of Zoology collected three specimens of a Humholdtiana from western Durango, which, on the basis of conchological characteristics, appears to be new. The extent of speciation in Humboldtiana will prob- ably be discovered to be as great as in Helminthoglypta and just as complex. The exact status of the forms described here and previously described entities cannot be finally settled until a vast amount of material has been collected and studied. The described forms are being erected on the basis of conchological characters and different geographic locality from related species. It is recognized that extensive collections from Mexico may completely change the status of these forms, but they are dis- tinct on the basis of known material.
Humboldtiana durangoensis, n.sp. PI. 1, figs. 2, 6
Type: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 169746, in pine woods at 8000', Laguna del Progresso (a mill of the Pacific Lumber Co.), 30 mi. NNW of Los Coyotes and 25 mi. NNW of El Salto, Durango, Mexico.
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 5
Diagnosis: A species of Humholdtiana distinguished from H. nuevoleonis by its larger nuclear whorls, higher spire, more rounded contours and smaller granules comprising its sculpture ; from H. taylori Drake by its larger nuclear whorls, more im- pressed sutures, much smaller granular sculpture and different coloration.
Description: Shell ovate-globose, rather heavy; 4-4i/^ whorls, first one and three-quarters embryonic, smooth, shining, remain- ing w^horls densely covered with round to oval granulations oc- curring 5-6 per millimeter both longitudinally and spirally; growth wrinkles present but not prominent; ground color light olive-brown interrupted by numerous white streaks; body whorl with three spiral chocolate-brown bands, the upper and lower equal in size, the middle one about % as wide ; last whorl de- scending ; aperture ovate ; columellar margin broadly reflected over the umbilicus, but not sealing it; basal margin of shell slightly reflected ; parietal callus thin, transparent. Height 37.3 mm. ; diameter 39.4 mm. ; height of aperture 28.2 mm. ; diameter 22.9 mm.
Paratypes: UMMZ 169745, two specimens collected March 26, 1948, near a cave at the same locality. Largest specimen meas- uring 41.5 mm. in diameter and 39.4 mm. in height. Coloration and sculpture as in type. Two more paratypes were collected by I. J. Cantrall March 24, 1953, at 8000' about 2.5 mi. W of San Luis, Durango. They are slightly smaller than the other specimens, but still much, much larger than some forms dis- cussed below. San Luis and Laguna del Progreso are within 10 km. or so of each other and are located about 110 km. west of Durango City near the Durango-Sinaloa border.
Discussion: The exact phylogenetic relationships of the form cannot be determined until the anatomy is known, as better criteria for specific separation exist in the genitalia than in the shell. Conchologically, however, it is most similar to the Coa- huilan H. taylori and H. nuevoleonis of Monterrey and vicinity. Nevertheless, I believe its true affinities lie somewhere between the heavily sculptured group of //. humholdtiana (= hegewischi von Martens) together with the Zacatecan H. chrysogona and non-granulated H. hogeana group of Chihuahua. In other groups of animals some similarities have recently been noted be- tween the fauna of the Eastern and Western Mexican pine forest regions, so that the first relationship remains a distinct possi- bility.
6 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
From the southern forms mentioned above, H. durangoensis is separated by its much larger size, proportionately wider color bands and smaller granulations. Differences from the super- ficially similar eastern Mexican forms have been determined by comparison with authentic material. UMMZ 92404 is type lot material of H. nuevoleonis. No paratypes of H. taylori Drake were available, but Chicago Natural History Museum 22369 con- tains eight young specimens of H. taylori Drake collected by Dr. K. P. Schmidt on April 3, 1945, at Campo Central (El Jardin), 20 miles SE of Boquillas, Coahuila at 5400'. This locality is within five miles of Drake's type locality and the shells match Drake's description perfectly. The essential differences are given in the diagnosis and are not repeated here. A type lot specimen of H. nuevoleonis is figured in Plate 1, figs. 1, 5, to indicate the difference in nuclear whorls and shell contour.
The only other record of a Humholdtiana from Durango is given by van Martens (1890: 147) who reports specimens of H. hegewischi {= humholdiiana Pfr., see Pilsbry 1948: 185) from Ciudad in the northern part of the state. This record needs confirmation.
Dr. Cantrall also collected several more lots of shells from Durango. The following species were included :
Pisidium abditum Haldeman. A number of young sphaerids which seem to belong to this species were collected from the locality near San Luis and the Laguna del Progreso.
Polygyra matermontana Pilsbry. This group is a very dif- ficult one and much work remains to be done in working out their relationship. Specimens from San Luis are placed in this species on the basis of a comparison with a paratype of P. mater- montana (UMMZ 113187) from the John Ponsonby collection. The Durangoan specimens have a narrower umbilicus, but are identical to the paratype in shape and armature. There are also specimens of this species from Taxco, Guerrero in the Michigan collection.
Ferrissia (Laevapex) excentrica (Morelet). I have assigned a number of specimens from the Laguna del Progreso to this species with some hesitation. Typical excentrica appears to be heavily radially striate, while only a few of the Durangan speci- mens have heavy sculpture. In this respect, a number of speci-
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 7
mens could be assigned to F. (L.) impillaris (von Martens). After carefully examining the extensive series of excentrica in the Walker collection, I am inclined to consider that the two "species" may be extreme variations of one form.
Since the pioneer works of Fischer and Crosse, Strebel and Pfeffer and von Martens, Pilsbry (1903, 1928) and Dall (1908) are major sources for records in Tamaulipas. Material collected by C. F. Walker in 1950 and by Paul S. Martin and B. E. Har- rell in February 1953 provide several additional records.
Aperostoma (A.) mexicanuyn salleanum (von Martens). Specimens from Rancho del Cielo (7 km. north of Gomez Farias) and another locality 20 km. north of Chamal, both in the Sierra Madre Oriental of southwest Tamaulipas, all well within the range of variation shown by H. B. Baker's Vera Cruz material (see Baker 1928). Although its presence in Tamaulipas is not surprising, I believe this is the first record for the state as it was not reported by Pilsbry (1903) in the Rhoads collections.
Mesonvphix (Omphalinella) montereyensis victorianus Pils- bry, Specimens from each of the above localities.
Coelocentrum (Crossostephanus) palmeri Dall and Bartsch. Specimens from the Rancho del Cielo, Chamal and the Aser- radero del Paraiso, 15 km. NNW of Chamal. Chamal is a small town located midway betw^een Ocampo and El Limon. The fresh specimens are much slenderer than the figured form (Dall 1908: pi. 29, figs. 2, 5), but are identical in columellar char- acters and external sculpture. The original locality was simply ' ' Tamaulipas. ' '
Ceres nelsoni Dall (1898 : 27). A single specimen from Aser- radero del Paraiso, 15 km, N of Chamal at 1500' in humid low- land forest. Identical with the figures (Dall 1902: pi. 28, figs. 1, 3, 5, 8) of the San Luis Potosi specimens. To the original description it might be added that the lamellae extend back one-sixth whorl and that with the exception of the one-sixth whorl bearing the lamellae, there are no internal partitions pres- ent. H, Burrington Baker (personal communication) informs me that Ceres is probably related to the South American Lini- diella (= Cyane Adams, not Felder, 1861) and with it forms a tribe of the Helicininae, rather than belonging to the vianine Proserpininae.
8 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
In addition, Martin and Harrell collected four specimens of an interesting new Humholdtiana from near Victoria, Ta- maulipas.
HUMBOLDTIANA PILSBRYI, n.Sp. PI. I, figS. 3, 4
Type: MMZ 181280, collected 2 miles (by road) west of Ojitos Mine, about 4 miles West of Chihue (NW of Victoria), a few miles east of China, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The habitat was a humid pine-oak-madronoyucca forest at 8600'. It was collected at a mouth of a cave February 26, 1953.
Diagnosis : A species of Humholdtiana rather dissimilar to any other Northern Mexican form. It differs from H. montezuma Pilsbry mainly in shape and detail of sculpture; from H. huf- foniana in radular detail, color of animal and shape of shell.
Description: Shell large, somewhat globose, fairly thin; five whorls in largest specimen; first 1% whorls embryonic, smooth, shining, maculated with brown and white ; angle of spire obtuse, sutures impressed, with sides of whorls somewhat flattened as in H. nuevoleonis; sculpture consisting of numerous prominent growth wrinkles and many granulations, in number from one to three per millimeter, in shape from round to oval ; granulations usually whitish and scattered over both the growth wrinkles and interstices, being very similar to H. huffoniana (Pilsbry 1927: pi. 13, fig. 1) ; ground color chocolate, interrupted by several streaks of yellowish brown and numerous short white streaks, which more or less follow the growth wrinkles; color bands lacking, except for single band on spire and penultimate whorl ; last whorl descending somewhat in adult; lip little or not ex- panded; parietal callus thin, whitish; columellar margin re- flected over and almost closing umbilicus. Height 48.4 mm. ; diameter 49.8 mm. ; height of aperture 41.2 mm., diameter 30 mm.
Paratypes: UMMZ 181281; two specimens from type locality; one young specimen and a worn adult measuring 55.8 mm. in diameter and 54.7 mm. in height.
Animal: A fourth juvenile specimen preserved in formalin contained the animal. Although too young to yield genital characters, the jaw and radula were extracted and a few notes taken on body color. Back and sides of animal dark grey be- coming lighter posteriorly; margins of foot grey, but sole red- dish-grey as are mantle lappets. Jaw small and close to that of
THE NAUTILUS 68 (1)
PLATE 1
:^ ^^a^^^
5 cm.
Figs. 1, 5. Httmboldtiana nuevoleonis. Figs. 2, 6, H. durangoensis.
Figs. 3, 4, H. pilshryi.
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 9
H. ultima figured by Pilsbry (1927: 167, fig. Id). Radular teeth like those of H. chisosensis (Pilsbry 1927: 169, fig. 5).
Discussion: The radular difference, color of the animal, higher spire and flatter outline of the shell serve to distinguish this form from H. huffoniana. The maculated embryonic whorls, fewer and shorter white streaks, flatter whorls and different sculpture separate it from //. montezuma. In many ways it appears intermediate between the two.
I take great pleasure in naming this species for Dr. Henry A. Pilsbry, not only for all the work he has done on this group, but in appreciation of all the help he gave me when I was in Phila- delphia.
A number of specimens of Oleacinidae are not reported on at this time, but are held pending comparisons with type speci- mens and consultation with authorities on this group.
Bibliography
Baker, H. B. 1930. Mexican MoUusks collected for Dr. Bryant Walker in 1926. Part II. Occ. Pap. UMMZ, 220.
Bartsch, Paul. 1906. The urocoptid mollusks from the main- land of America in the collection of the United States National Museum. . PUSNM 31.
Bartsch, Paul. 1943. Notes on Mexican urocoptid mollusks. J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 33 (2) : 54-59.
Dall, W. H. 1898. A new species of Ceres from Mexico, Nautilue 12: 27-28.
. 1902. Illustrations and descriptions of new, unfigured
or imperfectly known shells, chiefly American, in the U. S. National Museum. PUSNM 24 : 499-506, pis. 27^0.
1908. Descriptions and figures of some land and fresh-
water shells from Mexico, believed to be new. Ibid. 35 : 177-
182, pis. 29-30. Drake, Robert J. 1951. Huniboldtiana taylori, new species
from northern Coahuila. Rev. Soc. Malac. 8 (2) : 93-96, pi,
13. Martens, E. Von. 1890. Land and freshwater MoUusca. Biol,
Cent. Americana. Pilsbry, H. A. 1903. Mexican land and freshwater mollusks.
PANSP, pp. 761-789, pis. 47-53. . 1927. The structure and affinities of Humholdtiana and
related helicid genera of Mexico and Texas. Ibid., pp. 165-
192, pis. 11-14. . 1928. Mexican mollusks. Ibid, 80: 115-117.
10 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
. 1948. Inland moUusks of northern Mexico. I. Ibid.
100: 185-203. . 1953. Inland mollusks of northern Mexico. II. Ibid.
105: 133-167.
A LONG FORGOTTEN SHELL, DELPHINULA
LAXA SAY
By H. a. PILSBRY
On plate 7 of his American Conchology, Thomas Say figured a remarkable shell with uncoiled whorls, which he described in 1827 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 5: 207) as Delphinula laxa. The greatest breadth of this shell, he wrote, is about nine-tenths of an inch. It had been found by Stephen Elliot of Charleston on Sullivan Island, South Carolina. Say's figures were copied by Chenu, 1859, Manuel de Conchyliologie 1: 356, fig. 2635. "We reproduce them in figure 1.
Fig. 1. Eeproduction of Say's figures of Delphinula laxa.
In his remarks Say asks "Can this be a monstrosity of a Natica?" This possibility recommended itself to Dr. William H. Dall, who referred to it as "a deformed Lunatia" in the Blake Report (Bull. 18, M.C.Z., p. 277, 1887). Tryon in 1880 (Man. Conch. 2: 213) included it in Separatista, but he suggests that it may rather be a valve of Diceras. Possibly D. laxa may be a species of Gabb's genus Laxispira, known from casts in the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey and also found in European Cretaceous, but this does not seem probable. In 1885 A. E. Verrill described as Delphinula niticla a specimen taken between New Jersey and Bermuda in 1423 fathoms (Trans. Conn. Acad.
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 11
VI, p. 425, pi. 44, fig. 11). In his Bulletin 37 U. S. Nat. Mus., 1889, Dr. Dall reprinted Verrill's plate and catalogued the species as Liotia (Laxispira) nitida. However, this small (5 mm. long) modern species resembles D. laxa Say in little except the wholly detached whorls, and it is probably not related to Say's species or to the Cretaceous Laxispira Gabb. Its family relations are uncertain.
Our attention was called to Say's almost forgotten shell by the appearance of an article by Giorgia S. Coen in Natura: Eevista di Scienze Naturali Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. 40: 46-48 (Milan, 1949). In a box of discarded rubbish of unknown origin Coen found a specimen which he figured and described as a new genus and species, Soluta persoluta.^ The figure he gave of this shell is almost exactly like Say's figure of Delphinula laxa, and so far as we can judge by the figures, it may be the same species. Coen evidently did not know of Say's publication, as he did not mention it. He described a second specimen, not completely uncoiled and ribbed, as Semisoluta suhsoluta.
The occurrence of "Delphinula" laxa on Sullivan Island may be adventitious. It may be a fossil washed out of some submerged stratum, or it may be a deep water form which got ashore. It may possibly be a scalariform naticid snail, as Say and Dall surmised, though this seems rather uncertain. In any case, those who have opportunity to collect on that part of the coast should be looking out for this long lost shell.
MARINE SHELLS FROM OHIO PRE-COLUMBIAN
BURIAL MOUNDS
By henry C. SHETRONE 2
The current resurgence of interest in the MoUusca is of inter- est both to the specialist and the student of this aspect of natural history. Much additional information as to the life histories of recent mollusks is being recorded, and this in turn is favor- ably reflected in the study of their fossil predecessors.
1 Not Soluta Lacordaire, 1872 (Coleoptera).
2 Director Emeritus and Archaeologist, Ohio State Museum.
12 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
An additional aspect of the complex likewise is receiving belated attention — the importance of the Mollusca in human economy through time and space. Archaeological exploration of prehistoric habitation and burial sites is disclosing a hitherto unsuspected major reliance of humans, through the ages, on the mollusks as a principal source of food, and on their shells as material for fashioning implements, utensils and ornaments. The occurrence adjacent to seas, lakes and rivers, the world over, of shell heaps and middens, attests indubitably to this thesis. As additional sources of food became available, through agri- culture and husbandry, in indirect ratio to the development of literacy, dependence or mollusks and other sea foods decreased. The succulent oyster, clam, scallop and some others, are excep- tions to the general trend.
As a matter of course, primitive peoples utilized any or all mollusks native to their respective areas, whether marine, land or fresh- water. In Ohio and adjacent areas of the Ohio valley, on which this study is based, the only mollusks of economic im- portance were the numerous species of mussels, popularly known as fresh-water clams. In addition to the above-mentioned uses, the fresh-water mussels secrete valuable pearls, some of which may vie with marine pearls in beauty and value. The quest for these jewels obviously was a major activity of the highly evolved Hopewell peoples, since many thousands, usually perforated for stringing as beads and necklaces, have been taken from their burial mounds. These, in fresh condition, must have equaled the proverbial 'king's ransom.'
During the many years' exploration of the ancient burial tumuli by the Ohio State Museum (the writer and his pre- decessor) many marine shells and artifacts fashioned therefrom were recovered. At the time no attempt was made to identify, but since his retirement as Director this reporter, following a prolonged study, has attempted to do so. Owing to the fact that most specimens were fragmentary, faded, and more or less deteriorated, the task has been difficult. Since presumably only a minor percentage of all shells possessed by these so-called moundbuilders would be deposited in the burial mounds, they doubtless utilized many additional species from corresponding areas of occurrence. It is interesting to note that all marine
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 13
shells from the mounds are univalves, and that apparently they all came from Florida and Gulf stations, indicating that trade and barter of the Ohio tribesmen v^^as with the south.
In the interest of approximate dating, the following kinds or cultures of Ohio aborigines are recognized :
The Early Hunters, tribes from Asia following the big game southward with the recession of the most recent glacial retreat, 10,000-15,000 B.C.
Archaic Man, river dwellers, subsisting mainly on river mus- sels, 3,000 to 5,000 B.C. Neither of these cultures had other than local shells.
The Adena people, residing in the Ohio valley during the first millennium prior to 1,000 A.D. They constructed impressive burial tumuli.
The Gravel Kame culture, perhaps later than the Adena ; they buried their dead in the gravel kames of western Ohio and eastern Indiana.
The Hopewell people, perhaps 1,000-1,500 A.D., were a highly cultured group, possessing many materials including marine shells from distant sources of supply. They erected impressive burial mounds and earthworks.
The Fort Ancient culture, proto-historic, living in Ohio per- haps until the coming of white traders. Village-dwelling, not highly cultured.
The absence or presence of marine shells and other materials from distant sources of supply may be taken as an index to the culture status of a given people. The presence of such ma- terials is evidence of the existence of trade and barter, the genesis of commerce.
Ten species of marine mollusks, representing seven genera, have been tentatively identified. They are as follows:
Busycon contrarium Conrad. This shell was by far the most important in the economy of the Ohio aborigines. Its avail- ability and large size adapted it admirably for fashioning con- tainers, dippers, pendants and smaller artifacts. It has been found in all typical Hopewell tumuli, and occurs sparingly in Fort Ancient sites. Several large beads and an animal effigy, apparently fashioned from Busycon contrarium shell, were found in a mound of the Adena culture. This perhaps is the earliest record for Ohio.
Busycon carica Gmel. This large univalve shell is listed
14 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
under the old name 'Fulgur' as having been found in a Hope- well mound.
Cassis madagascariensis Lam. Single specimens in the form of containers were found in two different mounds of the Hope- well culture.
Cassis tuberosa Linne. An artifact fashioned from the outer lip of this species was found in a Hopewell culture tumulus.
Fasciolaria gigantea Kiener. Single specimens of the giant band shell were found in two different Hopewell culture mounds.
Cypraea exanthema Linne. A single example of this cowry comes from a Hopewell culture mound.
Oliva sayana Ravenel. Specimens of this olive were found in a Hopewell mound, and a single one in a village site of the Ft. Ancient culture.
Olivella mutica Say ; Neritina virginea Linne, and Marginella ajncina Menke. Specimens of these three so-called 'embroidery shells,' occurred freely in most of the typical Hopewell tumuli. Ends or sides were ground or punctured to admit of stringing for necklaces.
Since all species referred to are widely known and familiar to all students of western Atlantic mollusks, technical references would be superfluous. Suffice it to say that the author, in addi- tion to personal collecting, has studied museum collections and available literature.
COLLECTOR'S ITEMS FROM COMMERCIAL FISHING GEAR
By LELA M. GRIFFITH Egmont, B. C, Canada
To US commercial fishing has always had an important by- product— mollusks and other forms of life from deep water. Our shell collection was actually started, not with shells gathered on the beach and not even with mollusks, but with two species of Brachiopoda snagged on trolling gear some years ago. They were taken in Sechelt Inlet and brought home as curiosities,
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 15
later to be identified as Laqueus jeffreysi, a smooth round brown- ish lamp shell, and Terehratalia transversa, quite heavily ribbed and of a reddish color, each attached to a sponge by a peduncle or staUi. We still have them and to this modest beginning have added from time to time all that our own gear brought up and all that we could persuade anyone else to save of deep water material.
It is not quite accurate to say the shells were snagged on the gear although once in a while a scallop closes on a hook. What the hook catches as it is hauled along the bottom is much more likely to be a sponge or bryozoan which in turn often brings up the rock to which it adheres; and either the sponge or the rock may carry a variety of shells and other small creatures.
The population of one more or less typical rock consisted of the following assortment: four bryozoans of three different species, one Snake's Head Lamp Shell (Terehratulina ungui- cula), one Little Lamp Shell (Platidea aneminoides) , two Ridged Clams (Humilaria kennerleyi) , one Horse Mussel (Modiolus modiolus), three Hairy Snails (Trichotropis cancellata), one Lyon's Shell (Lyonsia pugetensis), and two corallines {Balano- phyllia elegans). These ranged in size from a three inch bryo- zoan to a Platidea no bigger than the head of a pin. Naturally a good many rocks and sponges are barren, and not all types of fishing gear have hooks, but each has contributed, at one time or another, something besides the commercial product for which it is used.
Aside from those already mentioned we have had few shells of any value from trolling gear but did pick off kelp, dragged from six fathoms near Grant Reef in the Gulf of Georgia, a tiny pearly Cypraeolina pyriformis, a snail shaped like an infinite- simal cowry, and one Clinocardium calif orniense, a small cockle with more and finer ribs than the common Basket Cockle.
Seines and gill-nets with their too-large mesh are poor equip- ment for collecting shells but sometimes they bring up mud and debris, embedded in which there may be specimens. From such a source have come some interesting species, particularly small round mussels (Modiolaria nigra ohesa), each in its protecting gob of jelly. These came up in a gill-net in Rivers Inlet. Also from a gill-net but off the Point Grey Flats we obtained a fine
16 THE NAUTILUS [Vol, 68 (1)
little Moonsnail (Polinices pallida) and a Bent-Nosed Clam (Macoma nasuta) ; and in Johnstone Straits a Chinese Hat Snail {Calyptraea fastigiata) like a conical limpet outside but with a spiral deck inside. These were attached to kelp holdfasts which came aboard in the net. Here in Jervis Inlet a gill-net incon- veniently sank when its floats water-logged, but to make up for the trouble it caused it brought up our first Cidarina cidaris, pearly little turbans with spiral rows of beading; and several more of the brown lamp shells (Laqueus jeffreysi).
Seines have not yielded much — one hairy brown Horse Mussel (Modiolus modiolus) and from Deserted Bay in Jervis Inlet, a number of long slim Jack-Knife Clams (Solen sicarius).
Last year a friend gave us a fine big scallop (Chlamys cau- rina), the only perfect specimen we have of this species. Her son brought it home after working on a bottom-dragger in Hecate Strait several years ago. These shells, much sought after by collectors, are commonly taken, I believe, in trawls but, unfortunately, we do not know nor have we been able to con- tact any trawlers.
Shrimp traps "catch" no bivalves but snails are sometimes attracted by the smell of the bait intended for the shrimps. From traps put down in a depth of nearly one hundred fathoms in the vicinity of Cortez Island we had a donation of nine speci- mens of Neptunea phoenicia, large handsome brown snails with distinct spiral ribs. And from the same source but taken in Bute Inlet, we obtained one huge Ridged Whelk {Neptunea lirata) — bigger and handsomer even than its aforementioned cousin. Shrimp traps in seventy fathoms of water off Shannon Creek in Sechelt Inlet invariably bring up a quantity of Coins morditus and C. jordani more or less evenly divided as to num- bers. They are smooth brown snails, one to one-and-a-half inches, usually partially covered with a black growth and rather difficult to tell apart. With them once was the larger more distinctive Coins herendeeni, with fine spiral lines and a thin olive-brown periostracum. After these aristocrats the take in Jervis Inlet has not been very spectacular — mostly the large hairy Oregon Tritons (Argoluccinum oregonense) with sadly worn apexes from being dragged by their owners over rocky
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 17
bottom, the lowly black Spindle Shells (Searlesia dira), and a few all-too-eommon Dog Whelks (Nassarius mendicus).
Although there is no commercial crab fishing in this Inlet we have tried crab traps for snails but with very indifferent suc- cess. We are too near the Skookumchuck and the strong tide fouls the buoy line and finally it breaks thereby losing the trap. The odd times it came safely up we got mostly the same old Spindle Shells and Dog Whelks but it did secure one prize, the lovely little Spotted Top Shell (Calliostoma variegatum), and one Puncturella cucullata, a limpet-like shell with sharp ridges and a slit at the apex of the cone.
Cod hand lines have supplied us with several scallops each year. Three species are in the Inlet — Chlamys hindsii, C. hindsii kincaidi and C. hericius — all in varying shades of pink and all very beautiful. The first two kinds are about two to two-and-a-half inches across, the last mentioned a bit larger and more vividly colored with coarse spiny ribs. These are swim- ming shellfish and when a line drags between the valves they immediately snap shut instead of prudently backing off. Some- times from the stomachs of the cod we get the Ribbed Top Shell (Calliostoma costatum), the outside layer of the shell dissolved away by the action of the stomach acid leaving the pretty pink and blue pearl exposed. Once, in an urn-shaped sponge stuck on the hook, we found a young Octopus (Polypus hongkon- gensis).
The set-line or long line has been by far the most prolific producer of shells etc. It may be from one hundred fathoms to a mile in length, lies on the bottom with short ganglings at regular intervals each bearing a hook ; perhaps a thousand on a mile of line. It is lifted by a buoy line and drags a bit on the sand or rock as it is pulled, the empty hooks catching this and that as they go by. At least it used to work that way. For two or three years now there has been little market for dogfish livers and hence, to our intense regret, no set-line fishing. How- ever, we have had over the years a prodigious haul.
Many of the species from other gear also showed up from the set-line. A few each, Cidarina cidaris, Calliostoma varie- gatum, Puncturella cucullata, Colus morditus and C. jordani, Modiolus modiolus, one only Colus herendeeni, and one Polypus
18 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
hongkongensis, the latter from the stomach of a dogfish. A good many each of Argohuccinum oregonense, Searlesia dira, Nas- sarius mendicus, Laqueus jeffreysi, about a dozen Neptunea Phoenicia. Always a fair supply of the three scallops (Chlamys hindsii, C. hindsii kincaidi and C. hericiits) — one notable con- tribution of nine specimens, seven C. h. kincaidi and two C. hericius, these last two from the stomach of a large red anemone — all taken at the same time from approximately the same spot.
The list of those pecliar to the set-line is quite impressive. A tiny brown limpet making its home on kelp, Acmea instahilis; Lepeta concentrica, small whitish and limpet-like with faint striations and the periostracum eroded away at the apex ; Sola- riella peramahilis, a pearly turban looking like a small tube wound round leaving an open umbilicus; the common little Checkered Littorine {Littorina scutulata) ; the White Slipper Shell (Crepidula nivea) oval, clinging flatly, pearly inside with a deck squarely across one end ; Melanella comoxensis, tiny pink- spired snails (our specimens were picked off an old shoe) ; Ocenebra fraseri, a knobby little fellow with a sort of basket- work sculpture; Trophon tenuisculptus, similar to the last but longer and slimmer with an elongated and twisted canal; Oli- vella hoetica, the Little Olive, purplish and porcellain-like, one only taken off Scuttle Bay; Siphonaria thersites, looking like a brown horn limpet but with a slight groove running from the vertex to the margin inside; Loligo opalescens, the slim squid with its opalescent hues.
Bivalves, too, are well represented. Two thin white trans- parent scallops about the size of a finger nail, Pecten vancou- verensis and P. randolphi, the former with a few roughish lines and the latter smooth; two little brown clams, one with heavy concentric ridges, Astarte alaskensis, and one with lighter broken ribs, Astarte esquimalti; small yellowish Kelly Shells (Kellia siib orbicularis) , two juveniles only we have; Panomya ampla, a heavy irregular shell, chalky white in color ; Hiatella pholadis, an oblong misshapen little clam found burrowed into sponges and in crevices in rocks; the white Ridged Clam {Humilaria kennerlyi) ; Lyonsia pugetensis, small slivery and delicate.
To these we add two Brachiopoda, one flat round brown and of very minute dimensions, Platidea aneniirwides, the Little
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 19
Lamp Shell ; the other about an inch long, white with fine lines radiating from the area of the beaks, Terehratulina unguicula.
In addition to moUusks and braehiopods the set-lines and cod- lines pick up other items which may be of interest. First, two Protozoa hardly large enough to see; a round one looking as if it were made of overlapping plates, Foraminifera discorhis, and a slim curved one, Foraminifera dentalina.
In the Coelenterata are the very pretty hard little pink "Corals" (Diaperoecia vancouverensis) ; two gorgonian corals, the large spreading fan-shaped structure, soft and brittle, of a gorgeous red color, Euplexora marki) ; and the yellow "Huckle- berry Bush," equally large but strong and shrubby, sometimes with a trunk like a young tree, a species of Eunicea. Then there is our only true coral, Balanophyllia elegans, called the Cup Coral, quite small round cup-shaped, of a vivid orange hue. Two sea pens are fairly common. Ptilosarcus quadrangularis is up to a foot long, the "stem" thick and fleshy, polyps on leaf -like attachments along more than half the length, all bright reddish orange. Stylatula elongata is similar in structure but much slimmer, up to six feet long and a pale ivory color.
The most attractive echinoderm is the pale lacy Basket Star, Gorgonocephalus caryi, with a very small body but surrounded by many waving arms — the original five each branched twelve times. Another odd starfish is Ceramaster arcticus, also pale but flat and almost a perfect pentagon, seemingly with no arms at all. From four hundred fathoms come Heart Urchins (Lovenia cordiformis) very spiny and more fragile than the shallow water sea urchins.
A few crustaceans are worthy of note: the Squat Lobster (Munida quadraspina) with his short red body and long red legs, not quite a lobster and not quite a crab; the great warty Box Crab {LopholitJiodes foraminatus) which folds so that his shelly parts fit tightly around openings between the front legs, permitting passage in and out of water currents; the equally large and very similar King Crab (LophoUthodes mandtii), distinguished by the lack of the foramen.
Not off the fishing gear but on kelp lifted by the anchor we collected two choice species; from Baker Pass a pair of wee
20 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
white Gem Clams {Gemma gemma) and from Rivers Inlet one fat brown Chink Shell {Lacuna porrecta).
So much for what we have. The fishing season is on again and we anticipate what it will bring — perhaps not much but always the chance of something strange. Perhaps there will be set-line fishing again one day. Perhaps we shall meet a cooperative trawler. And who knows? Perhaps this article will inspire some fisherman to save those oddities that come up on his gear. Of course, there is, too, the dredge, but that is another story.
NOTES ON TEXAS BULIMULUS
By FEANK L. SIMMONS
Odessa, Texas
My observations on the distribution and ecology of Bulimulus relate chiefly to the species of Coryell County, in central Texas, and are the result of only a very few years of observation and collecting.
Bulimulus dealhatus (Say) is found abundantly in Coryell County. It is found on the Leon River flood plain, up the steep hillsides, in the limestone bluffs, and over the hills into the tree- less pastures where it is more abundant and most at home. It is found in populous colonies in the high open pasture lands where there is only grass and weed coverage.
It can survive the severest drouths. As I write (Oct. 20, 1953) there has been only 2^/2 inches rainfall since the great Waco tornado of May 11, 1953, and in turning weed piles and stones around the margin of my garden I find live B. dealhatus under them.
This snail is often found by hundreds where it has climbed weeds up 6 inches to 3 feet above soil. It is notable that it always climbs dead, last year weeds. It is subject to attacks of carnivorous animals. I often find large numbers of shells that have been robbed of the animal. Red ants will destroy all in the range of their feeding ground.
Here, in Coryell County in the limestone lands it attains greater size than in clay or sandy soils. To illustrate : a collec-
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 21
tion made in an abandoned sand field 6 miles to the southwest, the average height is 19 mm., whereas in a collection made on the high prairie lands approximately 250 feet above the river flood plain the average B. dealhatus is globose conic, of 6 convex whorls, the nuclear whorl is often brown or black, height 26 to 28 mm., aperture 12 to 14 mm. high, 10 mm. wide ; shell marked with ashen gray streaks and blotches across whorl.
A small collection from Tarrant County, collected on sandy post oak land, averaged 18 mm. high. Another collection from Palo Pinto County, were even smaller, measuring only 18 mm. for the largest. It, too, came from poor sandy post-oak land.
Bulimulus dealhatus mooreanus. These were taken in the massive limestone Culpepper Bluffs half mile west of Mother Neff State Park, Coryell County, Texas, 1951. The bluff is approximately 150 feet higher than the Leon Kiver level be- low it.
It is capped by 20 to 25 feet of massive limestone. Lower slopes, which are very steep, littered with an abundant forest debris covering, and massive limestone boulders and stones broken off the cliffs above. There is a good growth of ash, elm, buckeye, several species of oak, greenbriar, grape, poison oak and other hillside growths.
In this county, this is a strictly timberland snail. I have never found it removed from good vegetal coverage. Its favor- ite haunts are the rugged stony hillsides although it may be found on the River flood plain.
It is gregarious, living in large colonies. In this location B. dealhatus mooreanus is almost in its pure state, but where there is an overlapping into a colony of B. dealhatus (Say) there is apparently extensive hybridization between the two subspecies.
Snails, in Indiana Economy : under the massive capstone men- tioned above there are several extensive rock shelters, commonly called ''caves," in which primitive man made his home, and in them are many kitchen-middens, the debris deposited where primitive men left the waste materials from their living habits. In March 1952, with my son-in-law and grandson, I excavated a section of midden deposit 24 ft. by 4 to 6 ft. wide and 30 to 36 inches deep.
22 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
There were human bones representing three individuals. The bones were in an advanced state of decay. Several bushels of river mussels the greater part of which were in an advanced state of decay. 160 flint artifacts were recovered, but here is my main point — the magnificent B. dealhatus mooreanus was well distributed throughout the debris.
I gave my grandson my share of the flint artifacts but I dropped 21 of these fine snail shells in my pocket and saved them, because it struck me very forcibly to observe the human bones and mussel shells in an advanced state of decay and most of the snail shells in good condition. Evidently they were in- troduced as the midden grew under the occupancy of the people who lived there but they had held form and quality better than bones or mussel shells. Does this indicate that the Indian used the snail to augment his food supply.
Bulimulus schiedeanus pecosensis Pilsbry. This is a fine species known by its long, acute spire, 7 strongly convex regu- larly increasing whorls, the body-whorl less inflated than in B. dealhatus. It was first found in 1852, only 8 specimens under Culpepper Bluff, Coryell County, Texas, near the bank of the creek. I had not seen this snail anywhere else, and recognized it at once as a different species. Dr. Pilsbry has identified it as above, reporting that my specimens are closely like the type lot from the Pecos River.
Since then I had not met with this shell until Mar. 9, 1954. "While exploring the craggy limestone bluffs of Horse Creek, two miles down Leon River from Culpepper Bluff, I came upon an excavation five feet deep. Archaeologists had excavated a shell- rock midden five feet deep. I noted that a great quantity of river clams along with a like quantity of snail shells had been thrown from the excavation, and many were sticking in the undisturbed wall. Most of the shells of all sorts were rotten and broken. Of the snails I noted B. dealhatus mooreanus Pfeiffer and B. dealhatus Say, in large numbers; among them were a great number of my (then) unidentified species. Most of the lot were rotten and damaged ; however I collected 19 fairly good B. s. pecosensis. This shell has such striking and different characteristics that I believe it is a species in its own right. I have found them only in alluvial creek bank deposits and in
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 23
midden deposits, and only in the two locations cited above. I have found no living specimens.
Bulimulus alternatus fnariae (Albers) : I have not observed this fine shell in Coryell County, nor have I heard of it being found here. Its habitat is chiefly in the Rio Grande plain, that vast low lying area in the southwest known as "the brush coun- try." I have small collections from Cameron County at the extreme southern tip of Texas, from Nueces County, mid Gulf Coast, from Zavala County in the mid brush country, from Willacy County (adjoining Cameron County). These were identified for me by Dr. A. B. Leonard, of Kansas University, Lawrence, Kan.
This is the only bulimulid I have found that has a columellar denticle. On the strong callus near the columellar termination of peristome are one or well defined denticles. Aperture often pinkish purple. Outside marked with brown blotches and streaks running with axis of shell. Length 30 to 32 mm.
MESODON THYROIDUS (SAY) IN FLORIDA By WILLIAM J. CLENCH
Typical Mesodon thyroidus (Say) occurs in peninsular Florida as far south as the Suwannee River system. At the time Pils- bry considered this species in his Monograph (1940, 1, pt. 2, p. 706) it was known to occur "in western Florida, but is not known from the peninsula."
It is still a rare species in the northern portion of the state though unquestionably many more records will come to light when serious collecting is attempted. Its distribution will prob- ably always remain spotted owing to its own ecological demands for rather moist hardwood areas, particularly along stream margins. Even here, it is generally absent because of several other factors which are as yet completely unknown.
A very vigorous colony was found at Oldtown on the banks of the Suwannee River in Dixie County. This locality is about one mile north of the bridge on U. S. Route no. 19. At this point both river and road bend toward each other until they run side by side for a few hundred yards. The bank at this
24 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
point is about 20 feet high, tree and brush lined and margined with broken limestone as fill for the road. We first found this colony in 1934 and again this past summer in 1953. Adults were abundant crawling over the rocks and the boles of the small trees, young specimens, about half grown, were found 8 to 10 feet up in the trees on the leaves, a situation I have never observed anywhere else. This record represents the southern most locality in the state of Florida so far as now known.
At Spring Creek, 3 miles southeast of Marianna we found this species to be fairly common along the banks, but not at all abundant. In passing, I would like to mention that this is one of the most remarkable localities for fresh water mollusks. Species are few in number but the abundance of individuals of each species surpasses belief. The Georgia Light and Power Co. have dammed this creek at U. S. 90. The lake above the dam is literally filled with Goniohasis floridensis Reeve and Pomacea paludosa (Say). Several rowboats had their sides literally plastered with eggs of this latter species, in places over one inch thick. Below the dam, Elliptio strigosa (Lea) were so numerous that they had to "up end" themselves in certain spots owing to crowding.
The following are the Florida records of Mesodon thyroidus (Say) :
Spring Creek, 3 miles southeast of Marianna, Jackson Co. Alum Bluff, Liberty Co., Apalachicola River. Torrea Park, 12 miles south of Chattahoochee, Gadsden Co. Near mouth of Withlacoochee River, Suwannee River, Madi- son Co.
Near Itchatucknee River, Columbia Co. Oldtown, Suwannee River, Dixie Co.
THE MOLLUSKS OF BROWN COUNTY, WISCONSIN
By MARGARET C. TESKEY
Since the monumental work of Baker (1928), several short papers by Morrison (1929, 1932), Levi and Levi (1950) and Solem (1952) add additional records to the distribution of Wis-
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 25
consin molliisca. This contribution reports the specimens ob- tained by collecting at 32 stations in Brown County, Wisconsin from October 4th to 19th, 1953. Additional stations which yielded no moUusks were not counted in this survey.
Brown County embraces both shores of the southern end of Green Bay, and except for the city of Green Bay, the village of De Pere and several crossroad hamlets it is given over to the dairy farms for which Wisconsin is famed. The few wooded areas which remain are in nearly every instance pastured and afforded very poor collecting. An attempt was made to give equal attention to these forest areas (if second and third growth woodlots may be so designated), roadside bogs, quarrys both active and abandoned, several creeks, the Fox River (badly polluted by paper mills) and the bay. Considering that this constitutes one of the most "improved" sections of the state, it was a pleasant surprise upon totalling up to be able to record 62 species.
Of special interest was the discovery of Hendersonia occulta (Say) at three stations, widely separated and ecologically dis- tinct. In De Pere Township (where Marston collected it in 1890) this species occurred in quantity; three hundred speci- mens were taken from a woods pool not over ten feet in diameter. In some instances they were wholly submerged, but more often were under the rotted leaves at the very edge of the stagnant water. Later the species was found very much alive in the dry- as-dust detritus on limestone ledges of the escarpment which overlooks Green Bay in the northern section of the county; in this instance no water was in sight other than the bay several hundred feet below and a mile distant, nor was there evidence of spring or seepage water in the vicinity. The third location was the shoulder of a secondary road miles removed from the other two colonies. This time the snails were under loose gravel which in turn was drifted over with recently-fallen leaves.
Finding Pomatiopsis lapidaria (Say) on a baked forest floor (Wisconsin had suffered from a summer-long drought) was a shock to this collector who had heretofore associated the moUusk with the spray-drenched rocks at the base of Niagara Falls.
Acknowledgment is hereby made of the kindness of Rev. H. B. Herrington who identified the Sphaeriidae, of Dr. Henry van
26 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
der Schalie who determined the mussels, and especially that of Mr. Alan Solem who with great patience identified the mass of land and fresh water gastropods.
Following is a list of the species taken, together with the number of stations at which they occurred. The mussels in all cases were beach specimens. No attempt was made to collect slugs, which were infrequently encountered.
Hendersonia occulta (Say) (3)
Stenotrema monodon (Rackett) (2)
S. fraternum (Say) (4)
Allogona profunda (Say) (7)
Mesodon thyroidus (Say) (3)
Triodopsis multilineata (Say) (3)
Euconulus fulvus (Miiller) (2)
E. chersinus goly grains Pils. (1)
Retinella electrina (Gould) (2)
R. indentata (Say) (2)
Hawaiia minuscula (Binney) (2)
Zonitoides arhoreus (Say) (12)
Z. nitidus (Miiller) (2)
Striatura milium (Morse) (1)
Anguispira alternata (Say) (8)
Discus patulus (Deshayes) (1)
D. cronJchitei anthonyi (Newcomb) (7)
Helicodiscus parallelus (Say) (5)
Punctum pygmaeum (Drap.) (1)
Gastrocopta pentodon (Say) (1)
G. holzingeri (Sterki) (4)
G. contract a (Say) (6)
G. armifera (Say) (6)
Vertigo ovata (Say) (3)
Strohilops affinis Pilsbry (1)
^S'. lahyrinthica (Say) (6)
Vallonia pulchella (Miiller) (3)
V. cost at a (Miiller) (2)
Cionella luhrica (MUller) (1)
Succinea ovalis Say (9)
8. avara Say (7)
Oxyloma retusa (Lea) (6)
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 27
Carychium exiguum (Say) (6) *Limnaea palustris (Say (8) L. palustric (Say) form exilis Lea (2) L. caperata Say (6) L. humilis Say (1) Gyraulus deflectus (Say) (7) G. parvus (Say) (1) Planorhula armigera (Say) (5) Helisoma anceps (Menke) (1) H. trivolvis (Say) form megasoma DeKay (2) Physa sayii Tappan (8) Aplexa hypnorum (L.) (8) Viviparus malleatus (Reeve) (1) Campeloma rufum Haldeman (2) Bulimiis tentaculatus (L.) (1) Pomatiopsis lapidaria (Say (1) Pleurocera acuta Rafinesque (1) Goniohasis livescens (Menke) (3) Pisidium casertanum (Poll) (1) Sphaermm sulcatum (Lam.) (1) S. striatinum (Lam.) form soUduni Prime (1) S. occidentale Prime (6) S. (Musculium) securis (Prime) (2) Lasmigona coniplanata katherinae Lea (1) Fusconaia flava parvula Grier (1) Elliptio dilatatus sterkii Grier (1) Leptodea fragilis lacustris F. C. Baker (1) Anodonta grandis footiana Lea (1) Lampsilis siliquoidea rosacea DeKay (1) Amhlema costata plicata Say (1)
References
Baker, Frank Collins, 1928 : The Fresh Water Mollusca of Wisconsin. Wise. GeoL and Nat. Hist. Survey, Bull. 70, Parts I and II.
HuBENDicK, Bengt, 1951 : Recent Lymnaeidae. Kungl. Svensko Vetensk. Hndl., 3 (1), 223 pp., 5 pis.
* In grouping the seventeen lots of Lymnaeidae into three species and one variety, Mr. Soleni followed Hubendick (1951).
28 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
Levi and Levi, 1950: New Records of Land Snails from Wis- consin. Nautilus, Vol. 63, No. 4, pp. 131-138.
Marston, George T., 1890: Occurrence of Helicina occulta Say in Brown Co., Wis. Nautilus, Vol. 3, No. 10, p. 113.
Morrison, J. P. E., 1929 : A Preliminary List of the Mollusca of Dane County, Wisconsin. Trans. Wise. Acad. Sci., Arts, and Letters, Vol. 24, pp. 405-425.
, 1932: A Report on the Mollusca of the Northeastern Wis- consin Lake District. Ibid., Vol. 27, pp. 359-396.
Solem, Alan, 1952 : Some Mollusks from Door County, Wiscon- sin. Nautilus, Vol. 65, No. 4, pp. 127-129.
A NEW SUBSPECIES OF TRIODOPSIS FALLAX (SAY)
By LESLIE HUBRICHT
Triodopsis FALLAX AFFiNis, new subspecies
Shell depressed, with dome-shaped or conoidal spire, deep olive-buff to wood brown, narrowly umbilicate, the umbilicus contained about 10 times in the diameter of the shell. Whorls 5.3 to 6.2, closely coiled, with the periphery above the middle, deeply constricted behind the peristome. First whorl smooth, later whorls with fine spiral striae below the suture. Reflected peristome white, thickened within, with a pointed to rounded, inwardly bent tooth in the outer margin, and a transverse tu- bercle on the callus ledge in the middle of the basal margin. Parietal tooth rather long and angularly curved to arcuate. There is no internal tubercle on the columellar axis.
Diam. 12.2 mm. Ht. 7.7 mm. 6.0 whorls. Holotype.
Diam. 12.6 mm. Ht. 7.8 mm. 6.2 whorls. Paratype.
Diam. 10.5 mm. Ht. 6.2 mm. 5.6 whorls. Paratype.
Diam. 9.1 mm. Ht. 5.3 mm. 5.3 whorls. Danville.
Diam. 13.3 mm. Ht. 8.0 mm. 6.0 whorls. Calhoun Falls.
Triodopsis fallax affinis differs from T. fallax fallax (Say) in the absence of the internal tubercle, also the spire averages higher, the umbilicus smaller, and the tooth on the outer lip smaller, and less inflected. From T. fallax alahamensis (Pils.) it differs in its smaller umbilicus and higher spire.
The range of T. f. affinis, is mainly south and west of typical fallax, extending from Virginia, through the western Piedmont of North Carolina, into Georgia. Along the zone of contact
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 29
there are some hybrid colonies, as at Eau Clair, Union, Clinton, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, Elkins, North Carolina, and Danville, Virginia. At these localities some specimens have a well developed internal tubercle, some have none, and others are intermediate. At Danville, Virginia there is also a distinct difference in size between the two subspecies, affinis being quite small.
In western South Carolina affinis grades into T. f. aldbamensis, T. f. alahamensis being found at Anderson, and Pendleton, in Anderson Co., and at Seneca and Westminster, in Oconee Co.
Specimens from Danville, Virginia have been identified as T. vannostrandi alahamensis (Nautilus 64: 8), and although they are similar to some Alabama shells they are not typical ala- hamensis, and because of the wide geographical separation it seems best to place them under affinis.
The only difference in the shell between T. messana Hubricht and T. f. affinis is in the color. But at Columbia, South Caro- lina, where affinis has come in contact with T. hopetonensis, it has hybridized freely with it, which T. messana will not do, in- dicating a fundamental difference between the two species.
Localities. — Virginia : Pittsylvania Co. : along Riverside Drive, Danville ; along Cascade Creek, 2 miles south of West Fork. North Carolina : Wake Co. : clearing, 0.5 mile southeast of Garner. Guilford Co. : oak woods, along US-29, 6 miles north- east of Greensboro. Rockingham Co. : upland woods, 3.5 miles southwest of Madison ; Mayodan. Stokes Co. : summit of Hang- ing Rock Mtn., Hanging Rock State Park. Surrey Co. : Elkins. Wilkes Co. : North Wilkesboro. Alexander Co. : Stony Point. Caldwell Co. : Lenoir ; Hudson ; Granite Falls. McDowell Co. : Marion. Gaston Co. : Cherryville. South Carolina : Spartan burg Co. : Spartanburg ; Woodruff. Cherokee Co. : Gaffney. Greenville Co. : Greenville ; Piedmont ; 1 mile west of Greer. Union Co. : Union. Laurens Co. : Clinton ; Gross Hill ; Laurens ; Enoree. Anderson Co. : Honea Path ; Belton ; Williamston. Abbeville Co. : Abbeville ; Due West ; Donalds ; Calhoun Falls. Greenwood Co. : Ninety Six ; Greenwood. Newberry Co. : Little Mountain ; Prosperity ; Whitmire. McCormick Co. : McCormick. Saluda Co. : Ward ; Saluda. Edgefield Co. : Edgefield. Rich- land Co. : Eau Clair ; waste ground, Huger and Richland Sts., Columbia, holotype 191307 and paratypes 191308 A.N.S.P., paratypes 11451, collection of the author. Lexington Co. : Bates- burg ; West Columbia ; Lexington ; Irmo ; Cayce. Georgia : Hart
30 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
Co. : roadside, 6 miles east-northeast of Hartwell ; Hartwell. Franklin Co. : Royston. Barrow Co. : Winder. Wilkes Co. : Washington. Lincoln Co. : upland oak woods, 4.5 miles south- west of Lincolnton.
THE LAND SNAILS OF HENRICO COUNTY,
VIRGINIA
By JOHN BAYARD BUECH University of Eichmoud
Henrico, one of the smaller counties of Virginia, has an area of 234 square miles. It is situated just east of the center of Virginia, and has an elevation varying from tide water, in the southeastern part, to above 260 feet in the northwestern part. The greater portion of the county is from 150 to 250 feet above sea level. The northern boundary is formed by the Chicka- hominy Rivery, arising in the northwest corner and flowing into the James River below Charles City. The southern boundary is formed by the James. Numerous small streams drain the county, flowing into these two rivers. The western two-thirds of the county is a part of the Piedmont Plateau physiographic province, the eastern part belonging to the Coastal Plain.
Several of the land Mollusca of Henrico County were listed by Dr. Paul R. Burch in his article "Mollusks" in the Virginia Academy of Science publication The James River Basin, Past, Present, and Future in 1950. These included the snails Discus patulus Deshayes (not found by the author), Haplotrema con- cavum (Say), Mesodon thyroidus (Say), Stenotrema hirsutum (Say), Triodopsis fallax (Say), and Ventridens (= Zonitoides) arhoreus (Say). Two additional species, Helicodiscus paral- leliis (Say) and Retinella indentata (Say), were reported by personal communication. Triodopsis oisoleta (Pilsbry) was listed by Hubrieht (1953) as being an introduced form in Rich- mond but specimens have not been found by the author. Dr. Henry A. Pilsbry (1939-48) does not list any snails from Hen- rico County in his Land Mollusca of North America (North of Mexico).
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 31
The land snails are represented in Henrico County by eight families. Twenty-four species and subspecies are listed in this paper. Their distribution seems to depend on the availability of calcium compounds, organic material upon which to feed, moisture, and cover.
Carychiidae
Carychium exiguum (Say). Generally distributed under and among decaying leaves in damp places, but not common.
PUPILLIDAE
Columella edentula (Draparnaud). Numerous specimens found near White Oak Swamp Creek, VA. 717; Willis' Church, VA. 156; and White Oak Swamp Creek, VA. 156. In most cases this species was found under and among decaying maple, sweet gum, and oak leaves.
Gastrocopta contract a (Say). This species is fairly common throughout the county. It is usually found around or under the bark of damp hardwood logs and stumps, and in all cases has been found associated with forested stream valleys.
Gastrocopta pentodon (Say). Found only at the old coal mine on Gayton Road, VA. 706.
Pupoides alhilahris (C. B. Adams). Found only near White Oak Swamp Creek, VA. 802 in and around decaying oak and maple stumps.
SUCCINEIDAE
Succinea aurea (Lea). Found in the central part of the county along the James River. This species is generally picked up from rocks near the waters edge. Not common.
'to"-
Endodontidae
Anguispira alternata angidata (Ferussac). Generally dis- tributed over the northern and western parts of the county, but most common along the Chickahominy River lowlands. This species has been found associated with a variety of hard- woods.
Helicodiscus paraUelus (Say). Very common throughout the woodland areas. It is found most common in hardwood forests. Exceeded in abundance only by Zonitoides arhoreiis.
32 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
ZONITIDAE
Hawaiia mimiscula (Binney). Found along the James River lowlands in the eastern part of the county and around the masonry of St. James Baptist Church, VA. 5.
Retinella indent ata (Say). In small numbers in scattered lo- calities throughout the county, but not very common.
Striatura niilmm (Morse). Several specimens occurred in lots collected near Short Pump, U. S. 250.
Ventridens ligera (Say). Not common. Found on VA. 605 near the James River, Wilton Creek, VA. 611, and near Laurel Pond, on Hungary Creek, U. S. 33.
Ventridens swppressns magnidens Pilsbry. Generally distrib- uted over the county but not altogether common. It has been found in a variety of habitats, from under hardwood logs to around stone masonry in urbanized areas.
Zonitoides arhoreus (Say). This species is probably the most common land snail found in the county in both number of specimens and distribution. It is not restricted to woodlands and it apparently has no preference to any particular hard- wood.
Strobilopsidae
Strohilops aenea Pilsbry. Found predominately under the bark of oak logs. This species is fairly common in the county.
StroMlops lahyrinthica (Say). Generally distributed but not as common as S. aenea. These two species are sometimes found together.
Haplotrematidae
Haplotrema concavum (Say). Extremely common, being found wherever the habitat is favorable for other snails.
POLYGYRIDAE
Mesodon appressus sculptior Chadwick. This snail was found from only one locality in Henrico County, James River, VA. 605, but has been found commonly along the cliffs on the Chesterfield County side of the James River.
Mesodon thyroides (Say). This is a common snail in the Pied- mont division, prevailing along the James River. It is most generally associated with woodlands having a predominance of oaks.
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 33
Stenotrema hirsutum (Say). Found only in the woods sur- rounding- Westhampton Lake, University of Richmond, but very common here. These individuals comprise a small race, averaging somewhat less than 7 mm. in diameter.
Triodopsis alholahris (Say). Generally distributed over the county but not very common.
Triodopsis fallax (Say). Abundant in the central part of the county. This species is generally found around dwellings and gardens and is seldom found associated with hard or softwoods.
Triodopsis hopetonensis (Shuttleworth). Found only in the southeastern tip of the county in the James River lowlands.
Triodopsis tridentata juxtidens (Pilsbry). Abundant over the entire county. Unlike T. fallax, this species is generally re- stricted to the woodlands.
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank Dr. Henrj- A. Pilsbry, Curator of Mollusks, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for identifying Ventride7is suppressus magnidens Pilsbry, Dr. J. P. E. Morri- son, Associate Curator of Mollusks, U. S. National Museum, for identifying RetineUa indentata (Say), and Dr. Paul R. Burch, Professor of Biology, Radford College, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, for identifying Triodopsis hopetonensis (Shuttle- worth).
Literature Cited
Burch, Paul R., 1950: "Mollusks," The James River Basin,
Past, Present, and Future, James R. Proj. Comm., Va. Acad.
Sc, pp. 129-137. HuBRicHT, Leslie, 1953 : Land Snails of the Southern Atlantic
Coastal Plain, The Nautilus, vol. &Q, no. 4, pp. 114-125. Pilsbry, Henry A., 1939-48 : Land Mollusca of North America,
etc., vols. 1 and 2, Acad. Nat. Sc, Phila., 2215 pp., 1166 figs.
NOTES AND NEWS
Dates op The Nautilus. — Vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 1-36, pis. 1-^, was mailed July 24, 1953. No. 2, pp. 37-68, pis. 5, 6, Nov. 11, 1953. No. 3, pp. 69-104, pis. 7, 8, Feb. 18, 1954. No. 4, pp. 105-140, i-v, pis. 9, 10, May 17, 1954.— H. B. B.
34 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
HoLOSPiRA RiOGRANDENSis Pils., described in 1946 from speci- mens found by Jas. H. Ferriss, has been taken again. These are from a bluff on the north side of the Rio Grande, at mouth of Santa Elena canyon, Big Bend National Park, southeastern Brewster Co., Texas. They were collected by Mr. John Twin- ing and transmitted to me by Prof. H. B. Stenzel. — H. A.
PiLSBRY.
A NEW RECORD OP AN ALBINO OLIVE. — A perfect albino speci- men of Oliva incrassata Sol. was taken in the Gulf of California recently. The mollusk was found alive on a sandbar at low tide about two miles north of San Felipe, Baja California, on the afternoon of February 22, 1954.
The animal was discovered in a characteristic mound of sand in which individuals of this species conceal themselves when exposed by the ebbing tide. The white mantle of the mollusk completely encircled the shell at the time of its capture, but was quickly withdrawn, revealing that both the animal and the shell were pure white.
The shell measures 44 mm. in length and 22 mm. in width. It has a sharp apex and the fine naturally glossy surface normal to the genus. The shell is a brilliant opaque porcelain white, without a trace of any color.
Among the other individuals of this species obtained from San Felipe are some golden varieties. A few are gold colored, without the usual markings and flecks, these being juveniles.
The albino and golden Oliva incrassata will be exhibited by Dr. Howard R. Hill of the Los Angeles County Museum at the American Malacological Union Convention at Durham, New Hampshire, in August. — Mrs. Milton W. Zim, Pacific Shell Club, Los Angeles, California,
Corrections and additions to "The Terrestrial and Aquatic Mollusca of Albany County, Wyoming." — The collections of Pisidmm mentioned in the paper had been determined at the Chicago Museum as Pisidium contort um Prime and were so listed.
This winter Reverend H. B. Herrington has had my entire collection of Pisidium. He writes that all of the Pisidium from Albany County are P. casertanum Poli, not P. contortum. Also one lot of dead shells sifted from the sand in the Laramie River
July, 1954] THE NAUTILUS 35
at Laramie contained several shells of P. compressum Prime. These had been washed down from the Medicine Bow Moun- tains in the county, but their exact point of origin is uncertain.
Due to the mild winter I have been able to do some outdoor work and have found Valvata sincera Say in the Little Laramie River near Quaely.
Corrections in the paper should be made as follows:
Add Valvata sincera Say and Pisidium compressum Prime to the species list, p. 125.
Change Pisidium contort urn to P. casertanum Poli.
Middle Fork of Crow Creek, P. casertanum, p. 128.
Blair Picnic Ground, P. casertanum.
Pole Mt., S. Fork of Pole Creek, P. casertanum.
Horse Creek, P. casertanum.
North Sibille Creek, P. casertanum.
Spring Creek, P. casertanum.
Laramie River at Laramie, P. compressum, P. casertanum..
Little Laramie River at Centennial, P. casertanum.
Little Laramie River near Quaely, Pisidium casertanum, Val- vata sincera.
Camp Roosevelt on Pelton Creek, P. casertanum.
Middle Fork of the Little Laramie River, P. casertanum.
Brooklyn Lake, P. casertanum.
Telephone Lakes, P. casertanum.
Thanks are due to the Reverend H. B. Herrington who has identified my Sphaeriidae, p. 128.
Dorothy E. Beetle
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
American Seashells. By R. Tucker Abbott, B.S., Division of Mollusks, U. S. National Museum, with illustrations by Fred- erick R. Bayer, B.S., Van Nostrand Co., Inc., New York, Pp. xiv + 541, 40 plates, many text figures. — It is the aim of this book to give the student a well rounded knowledge of mollusks, the first 70 pages being occupied by chapters relating to how these animals live, feed and mate, how to collect them, and how to go about their study. The descriptive chapters following
36 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (1)
describe most of the shells likely to be found along our shores, no less than 1500 being described and beautifully illustrated. Many minute shells and those of deep water could not be treated fully in the limits of one volume.
Advanced students and expert malacologists will find the book equally useful for reference as its arrangement embodies the latest taxonomic studies, and it contains numerous changes from current nomenclature only recently adopted or in some cases not published elsewhere.
We are not enthusiastic over the use of "common" names. Vernacular names are actually in use for conspicuous shells and those of economic value. Many in use, such as "paper fig" or "micremoc" (Cypraea cervus) are not adopted in this book. But to make up names for every insignificant periwinkle seems to us of little use. The precedence given these names in the explanations of plates is rather confusing, since a large pro- portion of them are practically new names. — H. A. P.
Waves and Tides. By R. C. H. Russell, M.A., and Commander D. H. Macmillan R.N.R. Philosophical Library, N. Y. 348 pages, over 100 line drawings and photographs. Everyone in- terested in the sea is concerned with waves and tides. The many problems of Wave form and action and the theory and the com- plications of tidal phenomena are presented here in clear, non- technical language. It can be read with pleasure by all whose occupation or diversions take them on the sea. — H. A. P.
Between the Tides. By Philip Street, M.Sc, F.Z.S. Philo- sophical Library, Inc., 75 E. 40th St., N. Y. 16, N. Y. 175 pp., profusely illustrated with photographs. Though this book is intended primarily for young naturalists, it is not written down to them and the chapters on seaweeds, crabs, mollusks, the plankton and others, give a great deal of essential information in very readable form. The illustrations from photographs by the author are extremely good. The drawback for American readers is that it is based upon the animals and plants of British shores, many of them unlike anything to be found on our coast, but not the less interesting. — H. A. P.
THE NAUTILUS 68 (2)
PLATE 2
Fig. 1, Ocenebra minirosca Abbott, holotypc. Fig. 2, Ocenebra miiriroides C. B. Adams [holotype of Tritnnalia caribhaea Bartsch and Rehder]. FiG. 3, Ocenebra emlpowlusi Abbott, holotype. Fig. 4, Terebra areas Abl)ott, holotype. Figs. 5-6, Terebra floridana stegeri Abbott, (fig. 5) paratype; (fig. 6), holotype. Fig. 7, T. floridana Dall (off Sambo Reef, Fla.).
The Nautilus
Vol. 68 OCTOBER, 1954 No. 2
NEW GULF OF MEXICO GASTROPODS (TEREBRA AND OCENEBRA) *
By R. tucker ABBOTT Associate Curator, Division of MoUusks, U. S. National Museum
The Gulf of Mexico is still relatively unexplored for mollusks, and despite the occasional acquisition of new forms from shrimp fishermen, the subfaunal regions and subspeciation problems are as yet poorly understood. As more specimens from new lo- calities appear, the morphological boundaries between some species become less pronounced, especially in such families as the Muricidae (M. heaui versus hranchi), Conidae (C. clarki versus C. frisbeyae) and the Volutidae.
During the past several years, we have had an attractive and unknown Terebra sent for identification by several private col- lectors. The unusually fine series submitted by Barbara and Dan Steger of Tampa, Florida, has prompted us to describe what we believe is a new subspecies of Terebra floridana Dall. The shells are quite variable in color, sculpture and proportions, but despite the obvious differences seen in the most divergent speci- mens, there is sufficient overlap of characters to consider it only as a subspecies. Typical T. floridana is known from 5 to 118 fathoms of water along the east coast from South Carolina to Key West, Florida ; the subspecies described here is known from the region north of Campeche Banks, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Dall originally described floridana in very meager terms.
* Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- tion.
37
38 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
Therefore, we are giving a fuller description and some addi- tional records.
Terebra (Myurella) floridana Dall. PI. 2, fig. 7
Terebra (Siibula) floridana Dall 1889, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 18, pt. 2 ("Blake Report"), p. 63; 1902, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 24, no. 1264, p. 503, pi. 29, fig. 9 ; 1903, reprint of Bull. 37, U. S. Nat. Mus., pi. 75, fig. 9.
Description. — Shell from 50 to 75 mm. (2 to 3 inches) in length, very slender, its width being about 34 oi its length; with 24 to 30 whorls; angle of spire about 10°; color a semi- glossy, uniform, pale lemon-yellow to yellowish white ; 2 nuclear whorls smooth, opaque-white, the last being slightly larger than the first postnuclear whorl. Sculpture between sutures consists of two spiral rows of short, retractively slanting axial riblets which occupy the upper two-thirds of the whorl. The ribs in the upper row (immediately below the suture) are twice as long as those in the lower row. The lower one-third area of the whorl is concave, usually smoothish, but may have very weak, protractively slanting riblets or growth lines or bear three to six weak, spiral threads or incised lines. Outer lip with a fairly strong sinuation at the periphery of the whorl. Siphonal canal fairly short and slightly twisted to the left. Columella with two very weak folds, the upper one being almost obsolete. Operculum horny, transluscent-brown, quadrate ungulate.
This species is characterized by its long, slender, yellowish shell and relatively straight siphonal canal. It belongs to the subgenus Myurella Hinds 1845.
Records. — South Carolina: 63 miles S.E. of Charleston, 45 fms.. Pelican station 195-7. Florida : just off Grecian shoals, east side of Key Largo, 56 fms., coral sand bottom, April 9, 1886, Albatross station 2640 (holotype, U.S.N.M. 87222) ; about 6 mi. due south of Key West, 45 fms., coral bottom, bottom temp. 75° F, Jan. 15, 1885, Albatross station 2318 (paratype, U.S.N.M. 93678) ; 2V2 nii. off Fowey Rocks, 36 fms., sand, bottom temp. 74° F, Mar. 30, 1903, Fish Hawk station 7517 ; off Sambo Reef, 118 fms., 1916, Eolis station 331; off Miami, 5 fms., 20 fms., 25 fms., 30 fms., 40 fms., all Eolis stations.
|
Length |
Width |
No. W |
|
68.0 mm. |
13.0 mm. |
23 |
|
69.0 mm. |
11.5 mm. |
25 |
|
66.0 mm. |
1.5.0 mm. |
+ 18 |
Oct., 19541 THE NAUTILUS 39
Terebr.v (Myttrella) floridana stegeri n. subsp.
PI. 2, figs. 5-6
Description. — Shell 50 to 80 mm. (2 to 3 inches) in length, moderatelj- slender, its width being about ^ of its length. Similar to floridana, but differing in being stouter, in ranging in color from bright-orange, lemon-yellow to wax^^ white, in having the siphonal canal considerably more twisted to the left, in having weaker and more numerous axial riblets which in- crease in number in later Avhorls, and in lacking the upper fold on the columella in nearly every specimen. Operculum like that of floridana.
Width No. Whorls
Holotype, U.S.N.M. No. 613884
Paratype, U.S.N.M. No. 613885
Paratype, U.S.N.M. No. 605184
Typea. — The holotype (613884) and seven paratypes (613885) are in the U.S.N.M. Tavo specimens from the Campeche Banks were kindly donated by Mr. and Mrs. Jack N. Sennott. Eleven paratypes were returned to Barbara and Dan Steger, after whom this subspecies is named, and one is in the Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. No. 191709.
Type locality. — 50 miles west of Campeche, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, in 12 fathoms. Collected in 1953 by the Stegers' shrimp boat, the "Sea Hag."
Remarks. — There is a superficial resemblance between stegeri and T. taurina Solander (formerly flammea Lamarck), particu- larly in the early whorls. However, the much larger taurina differs in having a longer and straighter siphonal canal, in being spotted with color, and in having nearly twice as many, much finer, axial riblets that extend from suture to suture. The degree of slant of the riblets is about 40° off the axis of the shell in taurina, and about 10° in stegeri.
The axial riblets are coarser, larger and fewer in number in stegeri than those in floridana. In the last whorl, stegeri has from 28 to 39, while the latter has from 17 to 23 (rarely up to 26). The angle of spire is more variable in stegeri, ranging from 14° to 10° with a mean of 13°, while in floridana the range is from 11° to 8° with a mean of 10°. Although these differences
40 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
are mathematically small, the resulting obesity of these long shells is quite different to the eye.
We have a single specimen 55 mm. in length which has all the characters of floridana, except that it has numerous, brownish color flammules and weaker subsutural riblets. It was dredged in 36 fathoms by the Fish and Wildlife boat, "Pelican," 44 miles southwest of Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida (U.S. N.M. 485734). Until other specimens are collected, we refrain from naming what may be either a color form or possibly a hybrid between floridana and taurma Solander.
Terebra ( Strioterebrum ) ARCAS n. sp. PI. 2, fig. 4
Description. — Shell 15 to 27 mm. (1 inch) in length, mod- erately slender, its width being about ^ of its length; semi- glossy, usually opaque-white, but may be blushed, particularly on the early whorls, with light yellowish orange ; rarely with one wide spiral band of orange; li/^ nuclear whorls smooth, glossy, transparent and clear or tan-orange. Suture sharply impressed and wavy. Whorls convex. Axial ribs strong, smooth, moderately arched and extending uninterrupted from suture to suture ; 12 to 16 ribs per whorl, with the interstices concave and with rounded sides. Spiral sculpture consists of 5 to 7 sharply incised lines which are absent or weak in the first few whorls, but become increasing strong in later whorls. Only the upper- most and strongest incised line crosses the crest of the axial ribs in some specimens. Last whorl and base well-rounded and with a total of about 16 incised spiral lines. Lower half of outer lip slightly advancing. Siphonal canal relatively large and only slightly twisted. Siphonal fasciole bordered above by a small, sharp thread. Columella with one weak, spiral fold at the base.
Width No. Avhorls
Holotype, U.S.N.M. No. 613882
Paratype, Steger Collection
Parat.ype, U.S.N.M. No. 613883
Types. — Twenty-one paratypes were returned to the Steger collection in Tampa, Florida; one is in the Acad. Nat. Sei. Phila., No. 191712, and 8 are in the U. S. National Museum, No. 613883, including the holotype, U.S.N.M. No. 613882.
|
Length |
Width |
No. Avhorls |
|
27.0 mm. |
7.0 mm. |
15 |
|
24.5 mm. |
4.5 mm. |
12 |
|
7.0 mm. |
2.3 mm. |
8 |
Oct., 1954 J THE NAUTILUS 41
Type locality. — East of Areas Cays, southern Campeehe Bank, Mexico, 23 to 24 fathoms. 1953. Shrimpboat, "Sea Hag."
The type lot is apparently a mixture of the above locality and two others: 35 miles E.N.E. of Areas Cays, 17 fathoms; and 25 miles N.N.W. of Areas Cays, sandy mud, 26 fathoms. I sus- pect that the 14 young specimens, which show little spiral sculpturing, come from one locality, and that the two orange- banded specimens are from another locality.
Remarks. — In morphological characters, Terehra areas is closest to T. glossema Schwengel 1940 and 1942 (see Nautilus, vol. 53, pi. 12 and vol. 56, p. 65, pi. 6). The latter was recorded from off Pelican Shoal, Florida Keys, and the National Museum now has specimens from 1 to 3 fathoms from Cardenas Bay, Cuba, collected by the Tomas Barrera Expedition. T. glossema differs in having more and less arching axial ribs (27 on the last whorl) and in having much flatter-sided whorls. Both of these species (or subspecies) somewhat resemble T. nassula Dall from the West Indies and the shallow-water T. protexta Conrad of southeast United States.
OCENEBRA (OcINEBRINA) EMIPOWLUSI U. sp. PI. 2, fig. 3
Shell. — Small, from 7 to 8 mm. in length, broadly fusiform, and somewhat resembling a Favartia; color white throughout ; 3y2 post-nuclear whorls ; last whorl with 6 rounded axial, varix- like ribs; penultimate whorl with 7 to 8 similar ribs; the spiral sculpture consists of strongly raised, squarish, slightly fimbri- ated cords of which there are 17 to 20 on the last whorl, and 4 to 7 showing on the apical whorls. The one nuclear whorl is pronounced, glossy-white and bearing on the first half turn a strong, smooth spiral, carina, which gives the nucleus an obliquely carinate appearance ; last half or third of nucleus without the carina, and succeeded abruptly by the well-sculptured post- nuclear whorls. Aperture oval, almost complete and somewhat spout-like, with a thin, sharp inner and outer lip. No anal fasciole present. Inside of outer lip with 5 or 6 weak, elongate, glossy-white teeth of spiral origin. Outer lip slightly crenulate. Siphonal canal well developed, and almost closed along its length, except for a narrow slit. To its left are the ends of 3 or 4
42 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
earlier siphonal canals which overlap each other, one inserted in the other. Operculum horny, light-brown, oval, narrowed at the siphonal end, and ungulate in structure.
Length Width No. whorls
8.0 mm. 5.0 mm. 4.5 Holotype, U.S.N.M. No. 613881
7.5 mm. 4.5 mm. 4.5 Paratypc, A.N.S.P. No. 191711
7.9 mm. 4.5 mm. 4.5 Paratype, D. Steger collection
Tyjjes. — Holotype in U.S.N.M. No. 613881 ; on paratype in A.N.S.P. No. 191711 ; three paratypes returned to the Steger collection in Tampa, Florida.
Tyjje locality. — 90 miles west of Fort Myers, Florida, in 90 fathoms; rubble bottom. Dredged from aboard the shrimp trawler, "Sea Hag" in 1953 by Captain M. E. Powlus, after whom the species is named.
Remarks. — This is the third Ocenehra to be described from the Western Atlantic. The first was described by C. B. Adams as Fusus niuricoide.'i, the synonymy of which is appended below. Ocenehra muricoides differs in having 9 to 10 smaller, axial ribs, in being more elongate, with a mauve-brown aperture, and in having strongly-colored, spiral bands of cream and reddish brown.
0. eniipowlusi apparently belong to the subgenus Ocmehnna Jousseaume 1880, Revue et Magasin de Zool. for 1879, p. 332 (original type designated: Fusus corallinus Scacchi [— 0. aci- culata] ) . CoraUinia Bucquoy, Dautzenberg and Dollfus 1882, Moll. Marins du Roussillon, vol. 1, p. 24 and vol. 2, p. 765, is a synonym, with aciculata Lamarck as the original genotype desig- nated. Dentocenehra Monterosato 1917, Boll. Soc. Zool. Italiana, ser. 3, vol. 4, p. 21 is a subjective synonym with Purpura edwardsi Paj^raudeau 1826 as the genotj'pe. The latter species is closest, especially in nuclear characters, to our 0. emipowlusi. Such Eastern Pacific species as gracillima Stearns, inter fossa Carpenter, and lurida Middendorff apparently belong to this subgenus.
Additional anatomical studies are needed to clarify the posi- tion of the subgenus Favartia Jousseaume. Clench and Farfante treat it as a subgenus of Murex (Johnsonia, vol. 1, no. 17, p. 51), but it could probably be treated as a subgenus of Ocenehra.
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 43
OCENEBRA (OcINEBRINA) MINIROSEA 11. sp. PI. 2, fig;. 1
Murex (Chicoreusf) micromeris Dall 1890, Trans. Wagner Free Inst. Sei., Phila., vol. 3, pt. 1, p. 141 (in part).
Shell. — Small, from 5 to 7 mm. in length, elongate-fusiform ; color all pink or yellowish tan with a pink or brownish pink aperture ; 4l^ postnuelear whorls ; last whorl with 7 to 9 rounded, axial ribs, the last of which forms a thickened varix; penultimate whorl with 9 to 11 similar ribs; spiral sculpturing consists of strongly raised, squarish cords which are crossed by distinct, crowded fimbriations. The latter are inclined to be fluted and raised into minute spine-like projections in the region of the axial ribs. The lowest cord, just above the ends of the former siphonal canals, bears 5 to 7 large, fluted scales. Last whorl with about 10 of these major spiral cords, but one or two much smaller fimbriated threads may occur between them. Nucleus with one smooth, glossy, pink or whitish whorl. Aper- ture oval ; peristome almost complete and somewhat spout-like, with a thin, sharp inner and outer lip. Inside of outer lip with 5 or 6 weak, elongate teeth. Outer lip crenulate. Siphonal canal well developed, and almost closed along its length, except for a narrow slit. The ends of 3 or 4 siphonal canals show at the left.
Width No. whorls
Holotype, U.S.N.M. No. 103380 Paratj'pe, U.S.N.M. No. 41665.5 Paratype, U.S.N.M. No. 416655
Type locality. — Jamaica, West Indies. Dredged by the "Alba- tross," but no station record; probabh' off Kingston.
Tyjyes and records. — Holotype, U.S.N.M. No. 103380 from Jamaica ; paratypes in U.S.N.M. from Bo(|ueron Ba3% Puerto Rico (161271) ; St. Thomas (103413) ; 1 mi. southeast of Fowey Light, Florida, in 25 fathoms by the "Eolis" Station 8 (416653) ; off Bear's Cut, Miami, in 18 to 20 fathoms, "Eolis" Station 113 (416655) ; off' Government Cut, Miami, in 35 to 38 fathoms, "Eolis" Station 117 (416654).
Remarks. — Ocenehra minirosea is similar to Ball's 0. niicro- meris described from the Caloosahatchie Pliocene beds of Florida, but diff'ers from that species in being more elongate.
|
Length |
Width |
No. whorls |
|
7.5 mm. |
4.0 mm. |
5.5 |
|
0.6 mm. |
3.0 mm. |
5.0 |
|
5.0 mm. |
2.8 mm. |
4.5 |
44 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
with more strongly fimbriated sculpturing, and in having one or two additional, more pronounced axial ribs per whorl. One might suspect that micromeris was a progenitor of the Recent minirosea.
OcENEBRA (Ocinebrina) MURicomES (C. B. Adams)
PI. 2, fig. 2
Fusus miiricoides C. B. Adams 1845, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat.
Hist., vol. 2, p. 3 (Jamaica). Ricinula muricoides C. B. Adams, Clench and Turner, 1950,
Occ. Papers on Mollusks (Cambridge, Mass.), vol. 1, no.
15, pi. 39, fig. 9. Tritonalia {Ocinebrina) carihhaea Bartsch and Rehder,
Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 98, no. 10, p. 7, pi. 1, fig. 1
(Old Providence Island).
We are adding the above synonymy of the third Western At- lantic species of Ocenehra, and a figure of ^the holotype of Tritonalia carihhaea Bartsch and Rehder which appears to be a synonym of 0. muricoides C. B. Adams.
SOME NOTES ON THE RADULA
By S. C. HOLLISTER
During the course of a recent field trip to Sanibel Island, Florida, when the writer attempted to relate juvenile to adult stages among some of the Fasciolaria by means of radula char- acters, it was discovered that the number of cusps on the laterals of F. gigantea vary with the length — hence with the age — of the shell. Collecting was at once begun of other species, and sub- sequently specimens of several series have been examined. The accompanying chart (Fig. 1) gives the relation between the length of the shell and the number of cusps on the lateral plates for F. gigantea Kiener and F. tulipa Linne.
Two species of Busy con were also examined, B. " contrarium" B. Smith {=B. perversum of authors) and B. carica Gmelin. The laterals of this genus have two large cusps with smaller
Oct., 1954]
THE NAUTILUS
45
intermediate cusps between them. Only these intermediate cusps are here plotted. The chart shows that the number of these intermediates varies similarly with the length of shell for both species.
The number of cusps on the laterals on each side of a given radula were not always alike. The central teeth of the species of Busy con " contrarium" did not possess a constant number of cusps; they varied from three to seven. This variation was not dependent on sex or size of shell. Several specimens from Barkers Island, N. C, had six or seven, while several from Sanibel, Florida, and the Dry Tortugas had five or less. More data are required before these geographic differences may be considered significant.
B. carica from Harkers Island had six cusps on the central tooth, while specimens from Cape Cod had only four or five. Such variation did not depend upon sex or size of shell.
Sterki, in Proc. ANSP, vol. 45, 1893, p. 388, pointed out the need for ontogenetic and morphologic studies of the glosso-
|
30 |
o |
1 |
|||||||
|
yf^ |
^^<' |
||||||||
|
F. TULIPA L.^ ^ |
/^ |
^y^ |
|||||||
|
in a. fii O |
V |
» |
^ |
^ |
< |
* |
|||
|
/ |
/ |
X" |
F. 6I6ANTEA KNR. |
||||||
|
20 u. o |
/ |
/ |
|||||||
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/ |
/ |
||||||||
|
15 K UJ m z zio |
' / |
||||||||
|
i |
/ |
||||||||
|
/ |
|||||||||
|
/ |
BUSYC |
ON-N |
♦ B. "contrarJum" K B. carico Gmtl. |
||||||
|
s |
/ |
||||||||
|
+ ^ . |
|||||||||
|
n |
* 90t |
^— |
X ^ |
too 200 300
SHELL LENGTH IN MILLIMETERS
400
Fig. 1.
4() THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
phorous molluska generally. In his own studies of land snails he had noticed that "certain characters of the radula which are very indistinct in the adult, or even overlooked by careful ob- servers, become of characteristic value in the lijjht grained by the examination of the earliest stages of growth." As an ex- ample, it was found that in the young of F. gigantea there were on the rachidian tooth three nearly equal cusps, while in the gerontie stage the central cusp remained with scarcely vestiges of a suggestion that the cusps on either side had existed earlier. When reporting upon dentition of radulae it would appear desirable to include in addition to the detailed description of the radula, (1) size of shell and number of whorls; (2) sex; (3) localit3^ In this way a body of literature for comparative study may be accumulated. The shell should be retained for later study. Characters of radulae other than number of cusps should be noted for diagnostic purposes.
SOME MARINE SHELLS FROM THE PERSIAN GULF By Dr. F. HAAS (Chicago)
Chicago Natural History Museum has received recently a small collection of marine shells which Avere collected by Mr. Ronald Codrai, from Janviary to July 1953, at Dubai, on the Trueial coast of Oman. Dubai, also written Dibai or Dabai on various maps, is situated south of Sharja. at about 25° 10' North Latitude and 53° 20' East Longitude. Dr. Henry Field of Coconut Grove, Fla., presented us with the collection mentioned above which is his second contribution to our knowledge of the moUuskan fauna of the Persian Gulf (see Haas, 1952). The species contained in this second collection are listed here :
Diodura funiculata (Reeve) Haliotis (Sanhaliotis) planata Sowerby Trochus [Infundihulops) cariniferus Beck Trochus (Infundibidops) erythraeus Beck Thalotia (Thalotia) kotschtji (Philippi) JJmhonium {Umhonium) vestiarium (Linnaeus) Turbo {M arm or 0 stem a) radiatus Gmelin Nerita (Theliostyla) iilexa Chemnitz
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 47
Turrit ella (Haustator) maculata Reeve
Cerithidea (Cerithideopsis) ftuviatilis (Potiez & Michaud)
Clava fasciata (Bruguiere)
Clypeomorus clypeoniorus Jousseaume
Calyptraea (Crucihulum) violacea (Carpenter)
Canarmm (Conomurex) luhuanum mauritianum (Lamarck)
Polinices (Neverita) ampla (Gmelin)
Polinices (Polinices) mamilla (Linnaeus)
Erosaria (Erosari^) turdus turdus (Linnaeus)
Niotha albescens splendidula (Dunker)
Niotha clathratula (A. Adams)
Fusus (Fusiis) colus colus (Linnaeus)
Oliva (Carmione) inflata Lamarck
Oliva (Oliva) ispidula (Linnaeus)
Ancilla (Ancilla) cinnamomea Lamarck
Cylinder pennaceus (Born)
Bulla (Bulla) ampulla (Linnaeus)
Area (Area) uropygmelana Bory de St. Vincent
Area (Barhatia) fusea Bruguiere
Area (Acar) plicata Chemnitz
Glyeymeris (Glyeymeris) taylori (Anags)
Glyeymeris (Pectunculus) nodosus (Reeve)
Glyeymeris (Pectunculus) peetiniformis (Lamarck)
Pteria, (Pinetada) inflata (Schumacher)
Peeten (Chlamys) senatorius Gmelin
Spondylus foliaeeus Chemnitz
Ostrea (Lopha) erista-galli Linnaeus
Cardita (Cardita) hicolor Lamarck
Codakia (Jagonia) fibula (Reeve)
Laevicardium (Tr achy ear dium) flavum (Linnaeus)
Erronea (Erronea) caurica eaurica (Linnaeus)
Mauritia (Arabica) arabica arabiea (Linnaeus)
Notoeypraea pulicaria (Reeve)
Semieassis (Semicassis) pila (Reeve)
Cymatium ranzanii (Bianconi)
Pyrula papyratia reticulata Lamarck
Murex (Murex) ternispina Lamarck
Chieoreus (Chicoreus) anguliferus Lamarck
Drupa (Morula) eoneatenata (Lamarck)
Mancinella (Maneinella) intermedia (Kiener)
Mitrella (Mitrella) blanda (Sowerby)
Lampusia pilearis (Linnaeus)
Rapana bulbosa (Solander)
Bullia (Bullia) mauritiana Gray
Nassa (Nassa) pullus (Linnaeus)
Lioeoncha eallipyga (Born)
Gafrarium (Circe) lenticulare (Deshayes)
48 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
Gafrarium (Circe) scriptum (Linnaeus) Sunetta (Sunetta) scripta (Linnaeus) Dosinia (Dosinidia) contracta Philippi Dosinia (Dosinidia) laminata (Reeve) Venus (Chione) lilacina Lamarck Mactra (Mactra) grandis Gmelin Mactra (Mactra) lilacea jickelii Weinkauff Asaphis (Asaphis) de/Iorata (Linnaeus) Angulus (Homala) triradiatus (H. Adams)
Thalotia (Thalotia) kotschyi (Philippi) is the only species endemic in the Persian Gulf that is represented in the collection.
Haliotis (Sanhaliotis) planata Sowerby. The only specimen of what I think is this species differs in various respects from the original description as well as from the specimen of planata at hand, which comes from the Philippine Islands (Chicago Natural History Museum no. 32896) . It is much larger, 110 mm. against about 45 mm. for typical planata; furthermore, it is by no means flat, its height being 27.5 mm. However, the pattern of the surface sculpture and the coloration of the upper side are in conformity with the indications given by Sowerby in his original diagnosis of planata. What induces me to believe that the shell from Dubai is identical with Sowerby 's species is that its umbonal region, in fact the entire shell with the exception of the last half whorl, is very much flattened and that it therefore looks very much like a specimen of planata, measuring 45 mm. in length. It is, thus, conceivable that our Dubai specimen is really an adult Haliotis plaimta, such as, apparently, had never come to be known before. This is the second record from the Persian Gulf, the first having been published by Melvill (1928, p. 96).
Cymatium ranzanii (Bianconi). The specimen from Dubai resembles C. tigrinum (Broderip) from the Pacific coast of Central America in its triangular aperture. No similar species has ever been reported from the Indopacific Ocean; however, C. ranzanii, originally described from Mozambique, East Africa, looks very much like our specimen from the Persian Gulf, so that I, tentatively, identify the Dubai specimen as such. Bianconi 's species seems to have been figured only once, by Tryon (1881, pi. 10, fig. 71) and to the best of my knowledge it has not been reported again.
Oct., 1954 1 THE NAUTILUS 49
Despite the many contributions toward our knowledge of the molluskan fauna of the Persian Gulf, mostly by Melvill alone or with associates, our knowledge of the littoral shells of that region is still very imperfect. The rather extensive literature on the mollusks of the region under consideration is to be found in Melvill 's publication of 1928. It is strange that we should know comparatively more about the deepwater shells, obtainable only through dredging operations, than about the shore fauna, which can be collected without the use of instruments; never- theless, this is the case.
Under these circumstances, even vSmaller collections, such as the one dealt with here, are of considerable importance, since they always help to increase our defective knowledge. This knowledge about the malacofauna of the Persian Gulf, as of today, does not yet allow the drawing of definite zoogeographical conclusions about the origin of the shell fauna of the region; all that can be said now is that the bulk of the Persian Gulf mollusks is of Indopaeific origin, that a certain, not yet ap- preciable portion of this fauna is Erythrean, or from East Africa, and that but very, very few species are endemisms. The role which the many smaller deep-water shells described by Melvill and his associates play in this distribution, is not yet clear, since almost all of them are known only from the original finding and the original locality. This does not exclude, how- ever, the possibility that in the future they may be found out- side of the region we are concerned with.
Literature
BiANCONi, G. G., Description d'une nouvelle espece de Triton. — Rev. Mag. Zool. (2), 3, pp. 217-218; 1851.
Haas, F., Shells collected by the Peabody Museum Expedition to the Near East, 1950. I. Mollusks from the Persian GuK. —Nautilus, 65, pp. 114-116; 1952.
Melvill, J. C, The marine mollusca of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and North Arabian Sea, as evidenced mainly through the collections of Captain F. W. Townsend, 1893-1914.— Addenda, Corrigenda, and Emendanda. — Proe. Mai. Soc. Lon- don, 15, pp. 93-126, 1 map ; 1928.
Tryon, G. W., Jr., Manual of Conchology, 3, 310 pp., 87 pis.; 1881.
50 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
THE MEADOWS COLLECTION OF ACHATINELLIDAE
By YOSHIO KONDO
The Edmund J. Meadows Collection of Oahu (Hawaii) Achatinellidae was one of many that were examined between July and December 1953 while studying in four museums across the U. S. with the aid of a fellowship granted by the Guggen- heim Foundation. Principal aspects of these researches will be submitted at a later date.
In recent years, several species and lesser forms of Achatinella have become so rare where they once flourished that today they may be considered nearly extinct. Private collections contain- ing all or most of the 42 species are not abundant and any rep- resentative collection finding its way into institutions will be of value in the future.
In 1947 the Museum of Comparative Zoology acquired the Meadows Collection from John Q. Burch. It consists of 40 species of Achatinella, one Partulina, eight Amastra, and three Laminella. The Achatinella species are distributed among 653 lots totalling 9225 specimens. Two species not in the collection are A. solitaria Newcomb and A. thaanumi Pilsbry and Cooke. Only two specimens of the former are known (Cumingian Coll.) and this species may be dextral aberrants of the sinistral A. fulgens Newcomb.
History. Edmund Meadows began collecting in 1925 but he did not begin to accumulate a systematic series until 1932 at which time he joined William H. Meinecke in his field trips. This association continued until 1942, so that the Meadows series wvaj be considered a modest duplication of the Meinecke Collection now in the Bishop Museum. Others with whom Meadows collected occasionally were Brick wood Lyman, Leo- pold Blackman, Irwin Spalding, and George Arnemann.
Mapping. Meadows attempted to map every locality in which he collected. Most of the stations are plotted fairly closely but many, particularly those in the deep interior and in mist- covered highlands, should be considered doubtful until closely checked with the Meinecke Collection and maps.
Oct., 1954 1 THE NAUTILUS 51
Data. No data except his rough maps exist. Shells were not numbered.
Labels. Small slips of paper with locality numbers were en- closed with most of the shells. Specific names were given for some but were omitted in many instances.
Exchanges. Shells acquired from colleagues were added to his collection without notation.
Storage and arrangement. Flat cardboard boxes containing 48 units, each II/2 inch square, were used to hold the species of a certain region. Box No. 1, for instance, contained the five species from Kealakei, Kuliouou. and a part of Niu Valleys. Colonies were numbered from 1 to 8. A. pkaezona was from colony 1, tacniolata from 1, 2, 3, 6; fuscobasis from 8, viridans (rutila) from 4 and 7, and fulgens from 5 and 6. Box No. 2 contained the species from l^^ valleys to the east of No. 1, the colonies being numbered from 1 to 5. The circuit of the Kollau range was made clockwise and contained in 39 boxes. Maps were pasted inside the cover.
Shells were arranged from left to right, top to bottom; each lot was separated from the adjoining by one empty unit or more.
Several colonies were often lumped together. The label would then read 1.2.3.4., etc. Several lots contained no labels. Some labels had no accompanying shells. Quite often labels of two species were switched.
Evaluation. In spite of the errors enumerated, the Meadows Collection will be of value, due to the reasons given in ]^ara- graph two, above.
TWO NEW SUBSPECIES OF MONADENIA FIDELIS (GRAY)
By ROBEET R. TALMADGE
Willow Creek, California
In the course of an intensive study of the distribution of the large banded coastal snail Monadenia fidelis (Gray) in the Klamath Mountains of northern California and Oregon, two well-defined, new races have been found. Until recently little
52 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
has been done on the interesting distributional problems pre- sented by the genus, since Dr. S. Stillman Berry of Redlands, California described several new species and sub-species. Al- though Allyn Smith and the Chaces had made collections from portions of the territory, there were many gaps that needed attention. This called for a systematic check of the territory, part of which had been worked, but much of which was still a blank. New areas were opened to science by the aid of students and other interested groups.
An important contribution to the distributional problem was made a short time ago by Mr. Rae Baxter, a fisheries student, at Humboldt State College, Areata, California, while collecting a series of Monadenia fidclis along the Oregon coast. In his ma- terial was a new off-shore ecological form, easily distinguished from the adjacent mainland forms. Another new form was located by tracing the distribution of specimens on the basis of animal coloration from an area where apparent intergrada- tion exists to a locality where the animals of the snails collected have a consistently uniform coloration. Specimens from this locality were brought in by an Explorer Scout expedition to the Marble Mountains, Siskiyou County, California.
Monadenia fidelis baxteriana Talmadge, new subspecies
A small, high-spired Monadenia of six and one-half well- rounded whorls, suture deep, aperture large and ear shaped, with a thin peristome that flares back at the base and half covers the small umbilicus. The nuclear sculpture is too eroded for adequate description. From the second whorl, the sculpture consists of a series of fine, rounded striae, which in many speci- mens are carried over onto the base. The close set lines of growth are cut by the striae, forming a checked aspect. The periostracum is highly polished on the base, but is somewhat duller on the spire. Color of the shell tawny on the dor.sal sur- face, with a black-brown periphical band about two millimeters wide, base a rich chocolate brown. Measurements of five speci- mens are as follows.
No. 763. Diam. max. 27, min. 23, alt. 16, umb. 2 mm. Holo- type
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 53
No. 730. Diam. max. 28, min. 24, alt. 16, nmb. 2 mm. Para- type
No. 730. Diam. max. 28, min. 22, alt. 16, umb. 2 mm. Para- type
No. 730. Diam. max. 27, min. 24, alt. 17, umb. 1^/4 mm. Para- type
No. 730. Diam. max. 29, min. 25, alt. 17, umb. 2 mm. Para- type
Animal : Maculations are a dull purple interspaced with areas of dull black. There is no trace of a dorsal stripe nor does the flare of the foot or tail become lighter in hue. The foot is a dull gray with purplish tints at the edge. The animal is re- markably uniform in coloration and except for the rare M. marmarotis is the darkest known of the Monadenia.
Type locality: Sisters Rocks, a few hundred feet off-shore in Curry County, Oregon. Taken from under drift logs and rubble on grass-covered rocks by Mr. Rae Baxter in July 1953.
Type : in Talmadge Collection, Willow Creek, California. Paratypes in the collection of the California Academy of Sci- ence, and the private collections of Allyn G. Smith and Rae Baxter.
Remarks : This form occupies the same ecologic position on the Oregon coast that M. f. pronotis Berry and ilf. /. trinidadensis Talmadge do on the northern California coast. M. f. haxteriana seems to be more closety related to the adjacent mainland forms than to the other off-shore races. Compared with the more or less typical fidelis and the green based heryllica, haxteriana can be easily separated by size and color of the animal. Baxteriana will probably be found on other suitable grass-covered rocks on the same general reef. It is assumed that when the headlands became separated from the coast, a few snails survived and due to unfavorable ecologic factors became dwarfed. These large broken off headlands are generally further broken up into scattered rocks. Baxteriana like the two California off-shore races will probably be found on these other rocks as they are explored. This subspecies is named after Mr. Rae Baxter, of Humboldt State College, who gathered the first material.
54 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
Monadenia fidelis salmonensis Talmadge, new subspecies
Shell a medium-sized Monadenia of six and one-half whorls, with a somewhat depressed spire, and a well-defined deep suture. There is no trace of a carina on juveniles except those under 25 mm. in diameter, the aperture is ear shaped and large, de- pressed above, peristome thin, recurving at the base so as to cover one-third to one-half of the well-like umbilicus, the latter beini>- contained in the diameter of the shell about ten times. Sculpture consists of a series of sharp ridges that cut across the whorls diagonally, parallel to the lines of growth, and are carried onto the base where they smooth out as the umbilicus is reached. There is no noted spiral sculpture. The perio- stracum is dull but shows a sheen on fresh specimens under side lighting. Color of the shell is remarkably uniform, even at extremes of the color pattern. All specimens are multi- banded with the spire ranging from ochre to burnt ochre. A dark brown band follows the suture to the periphery of the body-whorl, where it widens to about two and one-half milli- meters. Above this each whorl has two distinct faint bands of burnt ochre to chestnut that are spaced equidistant between the suture and the periphery of each whorl. Below the periph- ical band there is a narrow ochre to straw-colored stripe that is about one to one and one-half millimeters wide. The base is the usual polished brown, but is cut with numerous flares of tawny yellow, radiating out from the umbilical ]iit. In some examples this yellow area covers nearly one-half the base.
The measurements of five specimens are as follows :
No. 764. Diam. max. 33, min. 28. alt. 18, umb. 2 mm. Holo- type
No. 749. Diam. max. 33, min. 28, alt. 18. umb. 2 mm. Para- type
No. 749. Diam. max. 22, min. 29, alt. 18, umb. 2 mm. Para- type
No. 749. Diam. max. 35, min. 30, alt. 21, umb. 2^/4 mm. Paratype.
No. 749. Diam. max. 33, min. 28, alt. 19, umb. 2 mm. Para- type
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 55
Animal shorter and thicker than animals of the same size in adjacent and allied races, maeulations small and oval, color tan interspaced with areas of dull black. The distinct dorsal stripe consists of a double set of rod-shaped maeulations of a lighter hue, almost an ivory. The flare of the foot and tail appears darker than the rest of the animal, but .this is found to be caused by the much smaller maeulations in these areas. The foot is tan.
Type locality: Wooley Creek, from near mouth (elevation ca. 1200) to the vicinity of the North Fork of Wooley Creek (elevation ca. 3000). Salmon River, Siskiyou County, Cali- fornia. Taken under logs by the Explorer Scout Expedition to the Marble Mountains August 1953.
Additional localities : Steinacher Creek, a tributary to Wooley Creek, elevations ca. 1200 to 2500 feet, by Mr. Rae Baxter, Areata, California.
Type: in the Talmadge Collection at Willow Creek, California. Paratypes deposited in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences and the private collections of Allyn G. Smith and Rae Baxter.
Remarks : During the summer of 1953 several field trips were made into the Salmon River region in an effort to trace the range of various subspecies of Monadenia fidelis that are found within this mountainous area. It had been found that M. f. klamathica Berr.y extended up the Salmon River a few miles. Between this station and a station where the M. f. ochromphalus Berry had crossed from the Scott River Valley into the Salmon drainage was an area that had not been systematically checked. Within this area snails that appeared to be intergrades were noted. This snail had a duller periostracum than either of the two known highly polished races. The animal was different and did not fit what might be considered an intergrade between klamathica and ochromphalus. The material brought back by the Explorer Scout Expedition and later by Rae Baxter yielded the first specimens of this new race. Salmonensis occurs in the glacial basins and creeks on the north side of the Salmon River in Siskiyou Co. It is a dull race that has apparently inter- graded with both the ochromphalus and klamathica along much of the Salmon River and at the mouths of the side streams. These intergrades follow the coloration of more well-known
56 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
races, but have the duller periostracum of the salmonensis. The animals are closer to those of the river races, but always have a brownish cast, depending upon their location along the streams. Dr. Berry gave the range of callindina to include Butler Creek on the Salmon River. However, the writer has specimens from that area that are now known to be probable intergrades between salmonensis and klaniathica. At first glance, comparing the shells and not the animals one would hardly hesitate to identify the specimens from this region as callitidinn. The animal of salmoneyisis is much browner than any other race of fidelis that the writer has noted. It is darker than leonina and the shell is much different. Compared with the more highly sculptured species, cristulata and callipeplus, the shell lacks the adornment and the coloration of the other animals. The snail is named after the principal waterway within its known range, the Salmon River.
THE INFLUENCE OF BOTTOM SEDIMENTS ON THE
DISTRIBUTION OF FIVE SPECIES OF BIVALVES
IN THE LITTLE ANNEMESSEX RIVER,
CHESAPEAKE BAY
By J. FRANCES ALLEN Department of Zoology, University of Maryland
Introduction
During the past several years, collections have been made of the pelecypoda which occur intertidally and subtidally along the shore of the Little Annemessex River in the vicinity of Crisfield, Maryland. The present paper is confined to a discus- sion of the occurrence and distribution of five bivalves, with reference to the influence exerted by sediment types.
The Little Annemessex River which is located on the eastern shore of Maryland, extends in an easterly direction from the lower end of Tangier Sound, for a distance of approximately two nautical miles as measured from the buoy at the outer side of James Island. After passing the inner end of James Island,
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 57
the Little Annemessex changes to a northern direction and runs between the mainland and James Island for a distance of approx- imately two nautical miles where it enters the Annemessex Canal, which in turn, empties on the other end into the Big Annemessex River. Three quarters of a mile below the entrance to the Canal, the small boat harbor comes off from the Little Annemessex River toward the east. (See U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart No. 1224.)
The shore line consists of beaches, separated intermittently by marsh and banks. The beaches vary in consistency; some are sand ; some mud ; and some a mixture of sand and mud, with a considerable variation in the proportion of the con- stituents. Clay is also an important part of certain mud-sand flats, especially where dredging for the small boat harbor cana' was carried out.
Spartina alternifiora, the cord grass, and Yohella demissa DillwjTi), the ribbed mussel, together form the banks. The soil composition of the banks is mud, sand, and some clay. The mussel is present in great abundance throughout the entire area where it is found growing at the base of Spartina alterni- fiora and where it is embedded in the bank itself, as well.
The subtidal .substratum also varies from sand to mud. The area which is sand beach becomes mud bottom as one goes off shore and then beyond that are areas which are sand. Gener- ally speaking, however, the substratum off shore is mud, and according to Cowles (1930), the bottom of the Bay is mud ex- cept in a few rocky areas.
While the entire area was .subject to random sampling, four stations were established. Station A was located on the inner end of a cove which indents easterly from the Little Annemessex at the southern limits of Crisfield; Station B, on the sand flat opposite the railroad sidings, midway up the Little Annemessex River; Station C, on another flat just below the entrance to the Annemessex Canal; and Station D, adjacent to the small boat harbor.
The area in general is quite shallow, the average depth ranging between one and four feet at mean low water. The channel is dredged to a depth of eleven and one-half feet for a width of 100 to 125 feet.
58 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
Materials and Methods
The bivalves under particular consideration here include: Mya arenaria (Linn.), Tagelus pleheius (Solander), Macoma halthica (Linn.), Barnea costata (Linn.), and Mercenaria m ercenaria ( Linn. )
At the four stations mentioned, transects were mea.sured off from the shore beginning at the high tide mark, tovt'ard the deeper vrater. The average distance covered was 35 meters. At intervals of two meters, a one-half meter quadrat was estab- lished on each transect. The bottom material from each of these quadrats was collected and washed through a large flour sieve, having a mesh of 225 openings per square inch. In some eases w^here Tagelus was burrowing down into the substratum, the quadrat was dug to a depth of as much as two and one-half feet. Usually, however, the upper eighteen inches of soil was removed from each quadrat. In the case of Mercenaria, raking the quadrat with a clam rake usually sufficed for obtaining the specimens.
In addition to (piadrat samples, large size areas were marked off at each station as wtII as in other localities, and all the bivalves exposed by systematic digging of the area, were col- lected. After the shells had been cleaned, length measurements were made to the nearest millimeter. The shell weights were determined on an analytical balance.
Observations
As has been previously mentioned, the composition of the bottom varies in different areas as far as its relative compo- sition is concerned, the constituents being sand, mud, and clay. At Station A, on the cove flat, the bottom is soft, sticky black mud containing very little sand. Apparently there is a con- siderable amount of decomposition of organic matter, and there is, at times, a strong sulfide odor. Station B has a substratum which is a mixture of sand and mud, but it is predominantly sand, and becomes increasingly muddy as one goes off shore. Station C is also made up of sand and mud but the greater part is sand, which seems to be somewhat coarser than at Station B, and there is also a considerable amount of clay below the soil
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 59
surface. This flat is exposed to comparatively rough wave ac- tion. Station D, adjacent to the small boat harbor, is a bar shaped flat, about 150 feet in length when exposed at low tide. It is bounded by the channel which was dredged about seven years ago. The remainder of the flat is surrounded by an ex- panse of Spartina patens. The composition of the substratum consists largely of sand which becomes progressively more muddy as one approaches the inshore side. Beneath the mud and sand is hard clay. Near the channel and the bank, the flat is mud- sand.
Mya arenarm (Linn.), the soft clam, was found in all types of sediments examined. They vary in relative abundance de- pending upon the composition of the substratum. M. arenaria occurs intertidally as well as below the usual low tide level. In the areas of sand bottoms, thej^ are more abundant than in the mud-sand habitat. Their siphons are long and they are able to live at a considerable depth.
It was noted that the shells of small clams are more abundant in the mud but apparently they do not survive the silting which occurs there. In the cove. Station A, where the bottom is black mud, this species occurs in large numbers during the first year of growth. This is shown by the fact that on April 3, 1952, 229 small clams were collected from an area less than 50 feet square. The specimens from this collection ranged in length from 5.8 to 29.3 mm., with an average length of 14.87 mm. The follow^- ing July, only an occasional small clam was collected and the shore was littered with shells from dead clams.
At Station B, Mya arenaria was present but not as abundant as were the other bivalves. This species was totally absent from Station C. Its absence from the area where one would expect to find representatives may, in part, be due to the fact that there is a great deal of wave action here, and the surface sand is shifting. At Station D, adjacent to the small boat harbor, where there is considerable sand and clay, the same species ranged from 7.3 mm. to 52.1 mm. in length, with an average length of 25.18 mm.
Tagelus pleheius (Solander), the short razor clam, occurred in all locations but it was especially abundant where there was more mud than sand. Specimens collected ranged from 4.0 ram.
60 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
tx) 94.0 mm. in length. At Station A. the greatest number were between 65.0 and 75.0 mm. in length. At Station B, where there was more sand, the greatest number fell between 60.0 and 70.0 mm. in length. At Station C, where the surface is subject to wave action, this species was more abundant in mud and clay areas. The largest proportion of these bivalves from this station ranged from 70.0 to 74.0 mm. in length. Here, they burrowed to a depth of thirty inches. It was noted that the color of the foot and sometimes of the periostracum is much darker in the mud habitat, so that they tend to be dark green or black in color. At Station D, the greatest number were from 65.0 to 75.0 mm. in length. They were not as abundant here as they were at Station A or Station C.
Macoma halthica (Linn.) is found in mud and mud-sand flats where it grows to a length of 40.0 mm. In the cove, Station A, it ranks second only to Tagelus pleheius in number, with Mya arenaria being third in abundance. M. halthica was absent or occurred sporadically in mud-sand areas which were predomi- nantly sand. At Station A, they ranged from 14.6 to 37.0 mm. in length, with the average length being 29.19 mm. Only two specimens were collected from Station C, 11.6 and 13.7 mm. in length, respectively. Again at Station D, only two Macoma were taken, one 23.7 mm. and the other 15.7 mm. in length. Their absence in these areas may be due to the shifting of the sub- stratum as well as to the fact that the proportion of clay is relatively high.
Barnea costata (Linn.), the so-called angel wing, occurs in considerable numbers at Station D, the tidal flat where one section is mainly clay. Of the four areas examined, this was the only locality in which Barnea was found, and here it lives at a depth of as much as 26 inches. It ranged in size from 60.0 to 95.0 mm. in length, with an average length of 82.04 mm.
Mercenaria mercenaria (Linn.), the northern quahog, lives subtidally in the more sandy parts of the Little Annemessex River, This form does not occur intertidally in the Little Annemessex River. It is widely distributed off shore from the southeastern end of James Island which is the line of demarka- tion between the Little Annemessex River and Tangier Sound. It was found in small numbers off shore from Stations B and C.
Oct., 19541 THE NAUTILUS 61
Another aspect of distribution worthy of comment was shown by the transects extending off shore. These observations showed that Tagelus plebeius extends from the upper limits of the high tide line for a considerable distance off shore. Macoma halthica extends from between the tide marks in an off shore direction, and Mya arcnnria, while somewhat intertidal in distribution, becomes more abundant as it moves off shore. In the Little Annemessex River, Tagelus plehciiis is the most abundant of the bivalves, with Macoma halthica second in abundance in the muddy areas. However, Mya arenaria is second in abundance in the more sandy areas.
The influence of bottom sediments on growth and shell thick- ness may be noted from the data on Tagelus. Shell weights were determined on the razor clams from each of the four sta- tions. The average weights of length groups which were most abundant in each area were determined first. It was found that at Station A, the cove, the average shell weight for the group between 65.0 and 75.0 mm. was 6.44 grams. The group from Station B between 60.0 and 70.0 mm. was 4.97 grams; from Station C, the group from 70.0 to 74.0 mm. was 7.47 grams ; and from Station D, the group from 65.0 to 75.0 mm. was 8,17 grams. It was noted that those from Station D were consider- ably heavier in the same length range than were those from the muddy area of Station A.
The average shell weights were determined for those in the same size range, 60.0 to 70.0 mm., from each of the four stations. The results were Station A, 5.75 grams ; Station B, 4.97 grams ; Station C, 5.24 grams; and Station D, 6.23 grams. The shells which were lighter in weight were from the more sandy area, while those from the more muddy areas were intermediate in weight, and those from the more densely packed bottom of mud, sand and clay were the heaviest. It was noted that there was a greater uniformity of weights and size from Station A than from any of the other three localities.
Discussion
Newcombe (1935a) in his study of a sand beach in St. Croix River, New Brunswick, states that among the factors exerting a limiting effect on the rate of growth of Mya arenaria is the
62 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
soil ; two types being; unfavorable, soft mud with a layer of silt, and fine shifting sand. Below the mean low w'ater level, the soil contained a high percentage of soft mud and for twelve meters below mean high water level, the soil consisted of coarse sand covered with small stones, and below this zone to the mean low- water level, a fine grade of sand was present. Below the mean- low water mark, Mya occurred only occasionally, and he found no submerged communities of clams.
As was noted at Station A, the cove, the soft sticky mud ap- parently affected the survival of the young clams, and at the other stations it was noted that Mya was more abundant in areas where at least part of the substratum contained a good deal of sand. Their absence from Station C, which was subject to considerable shifting, also bears out the fact that these forms are affected by shifting sand. The same author (1935b) found that in the Bay of Fundy Region, Mya aren<iria maintains itself satisfactorily from below mean high tide toward the very low levels where there is a subsequent increase in mud, and at only very low levels are these conditions deleterious to animals. This indicates that with the decrease in the Mya population, there is an increase in the mud proportion of the substratum which may, at least in part, account for the absence or limited occur- rence of this clam in the muddier areas.
Newcombe (1935a) gives the distribution of the soft clam in Puget Sound as extending from one and one-half meters above low tide to eight meters beloAv low tide. This same author says that in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in Chesapeake Bay, Mya communities are subtidal. In the area observed, the author agrees that Mya is subtidal but they are also intertidal as was demonstrated in all the areas examined where they oc- curred.
Swan (1952), after noticing differences in shell weight of soft clams from areas consisting of muddy sand to sand with fine gravel mixtures, and one where the sediment was a mud- sand-gravel mixture, planted experimental boxes containing both types of soil to see what effect the soil would have on the growth of the clam. He found after nearly a year's time that there was great individual variation in growth but that the average linear growth of the '^lams in sand was roughly double that of
Oct., 1954 1 THE NAUTILUS 63
those planted in a mud-sand-o-ravel mixture. Data are not available on Mya collected from the four stations relative to differences in shell weigfht of this form, but information is available regarding- Tagelus. It was found that the shells were heavier at Station D, and that they were lighter at Stations,
A, B, and C. The lightest in weight were collected from Station
B. where the mud-sand mixture was predominantly sand. The heaviest ones occurred at Station D where there was consider- able clay, and where they were not as abundant. Those with the lighter shell weight were taken from the more sandy areas. These findings agree with those of Swan (1952).
Dexter (1947) recognizes the Mya-Nereis biome at Cape Ann as that of the intertidal loose sediments. In the Little Anne- messex River it was observed that Mya is present in the loose sediments and that they are not as abundant where the mud- sand-elay mixture is tightly packed.
Newcombe ( 19.35a and 1935b ) mentions the fact that the effect of large quantities of sulfide is practically non-existent and thus would not be a limiting factor. Similar observations at the cove, Station A, indicated the sulfide is high and it was also noticeable in the other areas examined, but apparently it has little or no effect.
Pearse, Humm, and Wharton (1942), when discussing bur- rowing mollusks, state that those slender clams with long siphons at Beaufort burrowed quickly and well and that the burrowing mollusks have either a wide slimy foot and a small shell and crawl with ease directly through the sand, or else they have a slender foot that can expand at the end and enough anchorage to pull itself downward. These same authors observed that Tagelus gihhus (Tagelus pleheius) frequents dark sands which border on muddy bottoms and that it can remain buried at a depth of from 40 to 50 cm., and also that it maintains two openings at the surface with the siphons. Observations by this author indicate that Tagelus pleheius prefers a similar habitat in the areas studied.
Fitch (1953) says that the northern razor clam, Siliqua patula (Dixon) occurs on broad sand}" flats where they are exposed to pounding surf, and that they may dig to a considerable depth wiien disturbed. This trait mav account for the survival of
64 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
T. pleheius to the exclusion of the other bivalves at Station C except for the two specimens of M. halthica collected from there. Like T. pleheius, T. californianus Conrad, has a smooth line permanent burrow. This latter form is found in muddy sand or mud in back bays, sloughs, and estuaries to a depth of 15 to 20 inches (Fitch, 1953). This characteristic also applies to T. pleheius for as previously mentioned it occurs at consider- able depth, as much as 26 inches.
Barnea costata which was found only at one location, Station D, does occur elsewhere in the Bay. It has been collected by the author in the inshore region of Tangier Sound and in the inshore region of Pocomoke Sound.
Mercenaria mercenuria occurs only subtidally on the more sandy bottoms where it is found near the surface, slightly em- bedded in the bottom. This observation is similar to that of Pearse, Humm, and Wharton (1942) who state that at Beaufort, this species with its heavy short siphons does not burrow deeply.
Summary
Five bottom dwelling pelecypods have been collected in the vicinity of the Little Annemessex River. Quantitative sam- plings from four established stations have shown that their dis- tribution and abundance is influenced by the composition of the substratum, and that shell weight of at least one form, Tagelus pleheius, is affected by the composition of the bottom sediments.
It has been pointed out that Mya arenaria occurs in all types of sediments but that it is most abundant in mud-sand bottoms where it occurs intertidally and subtidally. In muddy areas, it apparently does not survive one year of growth. Wave action and subsequent silting may prevent its occurrence in some areas. Tagelus pleheius prefers a mud-sand mixture where the greater part is mud. This form ranges from high tide line to well below low tide. Macoma halthica is found in all types of sediments but it is most abundant in mud-sand where there is a greater proportion of mud. Barnea costata occurs only in clay where it lives at a considerable depth.
Mercenaria mercenaria lives only subtidally in the sandy
Oct., 1954J THE NAUTILUS 65
bottoms where it is near the surface so that it is only slightly embedded in the bottom.
Literature Cited
CowLES, R. P. 1930. A biological study of the offshore waters
of Chesapeake Bay. Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish. 46 : 277-381. Dexter, R. W. 1947. The marine communities of a tidal inlet
at Cape Ann, Massachusetts : a study in bio-ecology. Ecol.
Monogr. 17: 26^294. Fitch, John E. 1953. Common marine bivalves of California.
Mar. Fish. Branch, Dept. Fish and Game, Fish. Bull. No. 90.
102 pp. Newcombe, Curtis L. 1935a. Certain environmental factors of
a sand beach in the St. Andrews Region, New Brunswick with
a preliminary designation of intertidal communities. Jour.
Ecol. 23: 334-355. Newcombe, Curtis L. 1935b. Growth of Mya arenaria L. in
the Bay of Fundy Region. Canad. Jour. Res. 13 : 97-137. Pearse, a. S., H. J. HuMM AND G. W. Wharton. 1942. Ecology
of the sand beaches at Beaufort, North Carolina. Ecol.
Monogr. 12: 135-190. Swan, Emery F. 1952. The growth of the clam, Mya arenaria
as affected by the substratum. Ecol. 33 : 530-534.
A NEW SPECIES OF MESODON FROM THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
By LESLIE HUBEICHT
Mesodon (Inflectarius) vertjs new species
Shell imperforate, translucent, pale reddish-brown to cream- buff colored, depressed, spire convex or low conoid, whorls 5-5.5, periphery rounded, with a prominent crest and deep gutter be- hind the lip. First two whorls with radially elongated granules, third whorl with radial wrinkles and some spiral striae, spiral striae disappearing on the last two whorls, and radial wrinkles becoming more prominent with numerous erect triangular perio- stracal processes. Peristome white, rather widely reflected, thickened within, especially in the base, without teeth, outer lip somewhat dished, concave, descending in front. Parietal tooth well developed, long and slightly curved.
Diam. 13.5 mm., height 7.2 mm. Holotype.
Diam. 14.6 mm., height 7.8 mm. Largest paratype.
Diam. 12.1 mm., height 6.1 mm. Smallest paratype.
66 THE NAUTILUS |Vol. 68 (2)
Type locality. — 3570 ft., ravine, head of Mt. Sterling Creek, 1 mile north of Mt. Sterling Gap, Haywood Co., North Carolina. Holotype G07137 and paratypes 607138 U.S.N.M., paratypes 191211 A.N.S.P., and 12640 collection of the author.
Mesodon verus may be readily distinguished from all other members of the subgenus Inflectarius by the complete absence of teeth on the peristome. It bears a strong resemblance to Mesodon suhpalUatus (Pilsbry) from which it may be dis- tinguished by the difference in color, the prominent crest behind the lip, the strongly concave outer lip, and the longer and lower parietal tooth.
VARIATION IN THE OLIVE SHELLS OF TROPICAL WEST AMERICA
By HOWARD R. HILL
Curator of Marine Zoology, Los Angeles County Museum
In nearly every family of univalve moUusks, certain species show considerable variation in color, size and shape. In the olive shell family there are a number of variable forms found on the West Coast from Mexico to Chile. One species in particular, Olive spieata Roding, is so variable that twenty-eight different names have been applied to it and its nine varieties. No two authorities have agreed on the nomenclature for these forms. Consequently, students and collectors have long been confused as to the proper scientific names to use for them.
It is the hope of the writer that this paper will be helpful in the identification of the above-mentioned variable species. In addition, the variation in other olive shells of the tropical West Coast will be discussed.
1. Oliva spicata spicata Roding. Typical 0. spieata is a com- mon species, 21/2 inches in length, ranging from West Mexico to Panama Bay. The typical form is found in the same regions as many of its color varieties. The shell is elongate with a moderate spire. The color of the aperture is white. Externally, the ground color is light gray or light yellow, shaded with a loose network of brown, pink-gray or blackish markings. The net-
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 67
work in some individuals is broken up into spots. The sutural fasciculations are elongate and dark in color. The synonyms are : melchersi Menke ; oriola Duclos, araneosa Lam. ; ohlonga Marrat, intertincia Carpenter; arachnoidea Roding. The va- rieties are as follows :
a. Oliva spicata violacea Marrat resembles the typical form in all respects except that in this the aperture is violet in color.
b. Oliva spicata pindarina Duclos is like typical spicata in markings, but has spire more produced and is more angled at the periphery.
c. Oliva spicata fuscata Marrat has the color pattern nearly obliterated by reddish-brown. 0. perfecta Johnson is a synonym.
d. Oliva spicata cumingi Reeve. In this variety, the network markings are not present. The shell is cream-colored with sev- eral wide, brown bands circling the body-whorl.
e. Oliva spicata hemphilli Johnson. In this nearly white form, only traces of the color pattern are present.
The following varieties are short and thick with short spires and short, dark fasciculations below the sutures :
f. Oliva spicata venulata Lamarck. This variety is the most common form of spicata, and is called the "Netted Olive" be- cause of its network pattern of black zigzag lines over a ground color of either yellow or gray or olive. Lamarck described a decorticated or worn specimen of his venulata as a distinct species, Oliva liarpidaria, which is illustrated in Reeve's mono- graph on the olives. Oliva punctata Marrat is also a synonym of venulata.
g. Oliva spicata polpasta Duclos is quite similar to venulata but more slender and lighter in color. The network pattern is more or less broken up into dark spots. Occasionally two wide, cream-colored bands encircle the body-whorl.
h. Oliva spicata suhangulata Philippi has a characteristic angular shoulder on the body-whorl. It might be mistaken for a small Oliva angulata Humphrey. However, the young of the latter, when they are the same size as the full-grown suhangulata, do not have a well-developed shoulder angle. The network pattern of dark lines is speckled Avith black, triangular spots arranged in interrupted lines.
68 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
i. Oliva spicata ohesina Duclos. This variety is bulbous with a swollen body-whorl. The ground color is gray or milky white. Instead of a network, dark spots are well scattered over the surface.
2. Oliva juliettae Duclos. Formerly considered a variety of venulata, this species has a characteristic thick lip and a vivid green ground color, overlaid by a pattern of dark arrow-shaped spots arranged in longitudinal rows. Synonyms are Oliva porcea Marrat; 0. mariae Duclos; 0. graphica Marrat; 0. timoria and 0. timorensis Duclos.
3. Oliva incrassata Humphrey, the Angled Olive, is not angled at the shoulder in the juvenile state. Young shells resemble Oliva spicata venulata in their markings, but can be distinguished from the latter by the pink tinge of the lip and columella. Adult shells usually have a ground color of creamy-white or light yellow, overlaid by brown spots and several longitudinal rows of black blotches.
Two interesting color varieties occur at San Felipe, W. Mexico, at the northern end of the Gulf of California. One unnamed variety is orange in color and devoid of markings. The other, Oliva incrassata nivea Pilsbry, is white. The type was described from a shell with a slight trace of dark. Re- cently, however, an entirely white specimen was collected alive at San Felipe by Mrs. Milton Zim of the Pacific Shell Club, Los Angeles.
In the literature, the Angled Olive is frequently referred to as Oliva angulata Lamarck.
4. Oliva peruviana Lamarck is restricted to the west coasts of Chile and Peru. Five varieties have been described.
a. Oliva peruviana livida Johnson is creamy-white in color.
b. Oliva peruviana subcastanea Vanatta is light brown. e. Oliva peruviana castanea Johnson is dark brown.
d. Oliva peruviana fulgurata Martens is streaked longitudi- nally with lightning-like brown stripes on a cream-colored back- ground.
e. Oliva peruviana coniformis Philippi has a reduced spire, with swollen body-whorl and angled shoulder.
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 69
The typical peruvmna is covered with brown spots on a light background.
5. Olivella undatella Lamarck varies in color and in the pat- tern of its markings. Some shells are nearly white, others are almost entirely brown. Most of them are patterned with zigzag, longitudinal brown stripes on the body-whorl, often arranged in two broad bands around the shell. Another pattern shows large, dark, triangular flames on a light background. Olivella nedulina Duclos is a synonym.
6. Olivella volutella Lamarck is usually unicolor and may be yellowish or blue-gray or brown. A variety Olivella volutella zonalis Lamarck is white with several wide, brown revolving bands, two on the body-whorl and one on the spire. Olivella rasomola and 0. selasia of Duclos are synonyms of the typical form, while Olivella zanoeta Duclos represents the variety zonalis.
7. Agaronia testacea Lamarck. Ground color varies from light-gray to brown, often with a bluish-cast. Frequently marked with zigzag longitudinal brown streaks.
The other members of the olive family on the tropical West Coast show but little variation in shape or color. They are the following species : Oliva porphyria L., Oliva kaleontina Duclos, Oliva spledidula Sby. Olivella eolumellaris Sby., Olivella dama MaM'e, Olivella gracilis Brod. & Sby., Olivella inconspicua C. B. Adams (0. myriadina Duclos), Olivella tergina Duclos, Olivella versicolor Marrat, Olivella petiolita Duclos, Olivella anazora Duclos. Of this group, Oliva kaleontina, Olivella inconspicua, 0. versicolor and 0. petiolita are rather uncommon.
TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING, AMERICAN MALACOLOGICAL UNION
By MAKGAEET C. TE8KEY, Secretary
The second-largest crowd in A.M.U. history assembled in Durham, New Hampshire on August 16th, 1954 as guests of Dr. George M. Moore and the University of New Hampshire.
70 THE NAUTILUS | Vol. 68 (2)
The weather was perfect, the setting was delightful, and lobster was king! Over the three-day period seventy-eight persons, members, their families and guests, enjoyed every moment as the clock rolled around and carefully planned events fell neatly into place.
The program w^as varied : registration, brief opening session followed by scientific papers, the evening meal a picnic by the sea where an especially low tide made collecting easy, an early morning collecting trip, papers in the afternoon, a shore dinner de luxe as guests of General Frank and Dr. Jeanne Schwengel . . . and so it went. As always, time passes too quickly and only the prospect of meeting another year (New York City) kept farewells in a cheerful vein.
Among the business matters transacted by the Executive Council was the act of attaching a by-law to the newly adopted Constitution whereby the membership dues are raised to two dollars per year, additional members of a family, one dollar each. This change was most necessary, since rising prices have made the old assessment inadeqiiate to meet expenses. A corresponding change in the life membership fee (to forty dollars) involves a change in the Constitution itself and will be voted upon by the membership as a w^hole.
The following officers were elected to serve for 1954-55 :
President, Morris K. Jacobson ; Vice-president, AUyn G. Smith ; 2nd Vice-president, Ralph 0. Fox; Secretary-treasurer, Margaret C. Teskey; Couneillors-at-large, K. Tucker Abbott ;
Anthony D'Attilio;
Yoshio Kondo ;
Ruth D. Turner.
NOTES AND NEWS
Cyclinella tenuis (Recluz) in the vicinity op Charleston, S. C. — On March 21, 1954, I found on Magnolia Beach, on the northeast coast of South Carolina, perfect Cyclinella tenuis
Oct., 1954] THE NAUTILUS 71
(Recluz) in abimdaiiee. In 1882 Wm. G. Mazyck found a per- fect specimen on the neighboring beach of Pawley's Island. In the intervening years many single valves were found, ranging from Sullivan's Island, near Charleston, to Magnolia Beach. As none of the authorities mention the Cyclinella tenuis occurring on South Carolina beaches, it seems worth while making the report. Below is a list of dates and findings of this species, taken from the records of the Charleston Museum.
1882. 1 fine specimen. Pawley's Isld. (W. G. Mazyck, p. 28
his list S. C. shells 1913) 1929, 9/12-13. 1/2, broken. Pawley's Isld. (Mrs. E. C. House
& E. B. Richardson) 1929, summer. 1/2. Isle of Palms (near Charleston). (Mrs.
F. H. Horlbeck) 1929, 10/20. 1/2. Pawley's Isld. (Museum party) 1931, 5/17. 5/2. Pawley's Isld. (E. B. Chamberlain & E. B.
Richardson)
1931, 9/7. 2/2. Isle of Palms. (E. B. Richardson) 1931,9/1-4. 4/2. Magnolia Beach, near Murrell's Inlet. (E. B.
Richardson)
1932, 4/15. 1/2. Folly (near Charleston). (E. B. Richard- son)
1932, 12/1. 1/2. Isle of Palms. (E. B. Richardson)
1933, 9/7-9. 4/2. Pawley's Isld. (E. B. Richardson)
1934, 7. 1/2. Dewees Isld. (E. D. Porcher)
1935, 10/1. 5/2. Magnolia Beach (Birnie's Beach). (E. B. Richardson)
1940, 2/7. 1/2. Sullivan's Isld. (0. J. MuUer) 1940, 4/18. 1/2. Magnolia Beach. (Jim Doctor) 1940, 8. 1/2. Pawley's Isld. (Mrs. J. Kaminski) 1940, 11/17. 3/2. Pawley's Isld. (E. B. Richardson) 1948, 10. 1/2. Pawley's Isld. (Susan A. Bennett) 1954, 3/21. In quantity, perfect. Magnolia Beach. (Susan A. Bennett)
— Susan A. Bennett, 37 Legare St., Charleston, S. C.
ANSP Monograph 8 : Pliocene Mollusca of Southern Florida. Addendum & Corrigendum.
Subgenus Bamhusum Olssou and Harbison, 1953 Type by original designation, Caecum coronellum Dall (Olsson
and Harbison, Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., Mon. 8, p. 11).
The description of Bamhusum, proposed as a new subgenus
of Caecum, was inadvertently left out during the printing of
72 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (2)
our monograph on the Pliocene Mollusca of Southern Florida (Mon. 8, Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 319). This omission is here supplied.
Adult shell relatively large, curved, with little or no taper, the apertural end thickened by a stout collar with a sharp or coarsely serrate edge. Sculpture consists of weak or strong, longitudinal and circular riblets. Posterior plug a flattened or cap-like plate with a short, eccentric mucro.
We take this occasion also to change the name of Noetia ponderosa macneili Olsson and Harbison, 1953 (Mon. 8, p. 42), preoccupied by Noetia macneili Marks, 1951 (Bulls. Amer. Pal., vol. 33, No. 139, p. 323), to Noetia ponderosa locklini Olsson and Harbison. — A. A. Olsson and A. Hakbison.
Note on the flying behavior of certain squids : erratum. — With the thought that you would wish to be advised of errata inadvertently appearing in Nautilus, we call to your attention that the above-mentioned paper by Arata, Vol. 68, No. 1, July 1954, is shown as Contribution No. 126 from the Laboratory, but that this should be Contribution No. 125. — Stella Pogany, for: F. G. Walton Smith, Director.
Additional food mollusks of the Wampanoag Indians. — Since the publication of our paper on "Utilization of marine life by the Wampanoag Indians of Massachusetts" (Speck, F. G. and R. W. Dexter. Jour. Wash. Acad, of Sci. 38 : 257- 265, 1948), information has come to hand on the use of two additional species of mollusks as items of food. These are the horse mussel {Modiolus modiolus) which was used in making chowder and the rock snail or dog winkle {Thais lapillus) which was boiled and the flesh extracted with a pin-like utensil. — Ralph W. Dexter, Depart, of Biology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio.
Mrs. Kate Stephens, widow of the late Dr. Frank Stephens, died in San Diego at the age of 103. Both she and Dr. Stephens were lifelong members of the A.A.A.S., and will be long re- membered as the founders of the San Diego Museum of Natural History. Mrs. Stephens was considered an authority on the algae and shells of the Pacific until disabled by loss of sight in her advanced years. She is mourned by a host of friends. — Leon M. Wright,
William James Eaymond, 1865-1947
The Nautilus
Vol. 68 JANUARY, 1955 No. 3
OBSERVATIONS ON DONAX FOSSOR SAY AT ROCKAWAY BEACH, NEW YORK
By MOREIS K. JACOBSON
During the past summer I noticed some peculiar actions on the part of the clam Donax fossor which I have not seen men- tioned or described in the literature. It might be of some in- terest and value to make a record of this.
All during the summer in the years when D. fossor appears in the sandy beaches of Rockaway, it can be seen and collected when it is uncovered in smaller or larger numbers by the rush- ing surf. As soon as the clams are uncovered they begin to burrow into the wet sand and in a few moments all of them have vanished. This repeated process caught my attention and I began to devote some time to observing it more closely.
The behavior of D. fossor in the rush of water is highly inter- esting. As soon as it is flushed from its hiding place, the clam extends its foot and its siphons. The foot is extended from the front half of the shell, reaching from about the middle point of the dorsal edge clear around to a similar point on the ventral. The foot is large, thin, the color of clouded mucous except for the tip, which is thicker and has a light buff tinge. The entire foot can be extended to a length equal to that of the shell, and the tip itself is capable of its own farther extension. This tip is very active and moves about excitedly, seeking with the aid of the incurved edge of the foot, to anchor itself against the rush of the water. Simultaneously with the foot, the siphons are exserted, the dorsal siphon (efferent or anal) pointing up- ward toward the dorsal line, the ventral siphon (afferent or branchial) pointing straight out, in a line almost parallel to the general direction of the ventral edge. If, however, 'the animal is caught in the backwash of the wave before it has succeeded in anchoring itself, it is turned so that its long axis
73
74 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (3)
is parallel to the rush of the water, the wide posterior section facing in the direction of the current. As this is taking place, both siphons turn sharply toward the umbo, the dorsal siphon lying in direct contact with the posterior edge of the shell and the ventral siphon lying close alongside the latter. The siphons turn either to the left or the right, depending upon which valve the shell happened to fall. This position of the siphons is maintained until the foot finds a secure purchase in the sand. Once this has happened, the siphons surrender the curved position, assume momentarily the "relaxed" position (dorsal upward, ventral straight out) and are then immediately withdrawn. After a few preliminary wriggles while the foot is being further inserted in the sand, the shell upends and in six to ten convulsive jerks (rarely as much as thirteen), lasting from two to four seconds, it disappears. At times I have ob- served D. fossor acting in a like manner in the upsurge of a wave, but in this case the shell, instead of having the posterior section facing the ocean, has it facing the beach and the animal burrows in in this position. Occasionally the shell, in the down- rush of the water, is left in a small tide pool formed at the base of the jetty poles. In this case the siphons assume the "re- laxed" position and the clam remains in this posture for some time before withdrawing the siphons and burrowing in.
Now and then, when the receding wave is weak, the clam does not assume the position perpendicular to the wave line, but remains more or less parallel to it. When this happens the siphons remain in the "relaxed" position until the moment the burrowing begins, when as usual they are withdrawn. When the current is at its roughest and the clam is hurled about, the siphons are exserted but do not curve umbo-ward. This curv- ing takes place onl}' when the receding water has somewhat slowed down and the clam has a chance of securing an anchor- age.
When one has watched the behavior of the clam for some time, it becomes difficult to avoid the opinion that the siphons are being used either as a steering organ, to help turn the shell perpendicular to the wave line, in which case it is being aided by the elongated wedge shape of the valves, or as a braking organ to help halt the shell in its rush and to enable the foot to obtain a purchase in the sand, or as both simultaneously. Even though
Jan., 1955] the nautilus 75
I believe the second of the two conjectures to be the sounder one, we still have here a most unique function for these tubes. It can be argued that the siphons are turned umboward in an attempt to keep them from being damaged on broken bits of shells and pebbles as the shell is being swept along. But if such is the case, it is much more likely that the siphons would be entirely withdrawn into the shell. Besides, if this turning is indeed for protection, it is not clear why the dorsal siphon, which curves up near the posterior edge of the shell, needs to be better protected than the ventral siphon which lies pos- teriorly alongside it, since both are equally' ^Tilnerable.
If we try to seek a reason for the actions just described, we might find an answer in a report by Mori (1938) on the be- havior of Donax semigranosus Dkr. (in his paper printed D. semignosus) on the coast of Okinosu in Tokusima-si, Japan. He found that f^emigranosus lived in largest concentration in the area limited seaward by the line which represents the limit of beach that is continually under water (this line moves with the tide), and landward by the line reached by the outmost lapping of the waves. (See his table I.) It is clear that to maintain this position, the mollusk has to migrate with the rising and falling of the tide, which, according to Mori it does for a distance of 3 to 6 meters at neap tide and as much as 30 meters at the spring tide. In the ease of D. fossor, which also apparently engages in such a migration, at least during the summer months, the distance averages roughly 20 feet.
In this connection, I have observed two factors that enable fossor to maintain its position in the changing tides. Since the shell has to be flushed from its subsurface position by the rush- ing water, it never takes its place at the verj^ tip of the ad- vancing surge like a bit of flotsam, but is usually a short distance behind the van, where, should it stop at this point, it would probably be reached by a succeding wave even in a falling tide. Similarly it usually succeeds in anchoring itself during or just after the interval between the onrush and the backwash of the wave, and hence occupies a place in front of the line that is continually covered by water. By these two devices it succeeds in keeping itself from being abandoned on land by the receding tide on the one hand, and driven to deeper water on the other. Eva Stoll (1937) describes certain motions of Donax vittatus
76 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (3)
Da Costa that enable it to creep forward or to leap backward in order to escape from an unfavorable environment (rocks etc.) upon which a chance wave had thro\^Ti it. I have never observed this motion in D. fossor in Rockaway and believe that its entire migration is accomplished by wave action alone. Here it might also be noted that when the habitat of D. fossor is given as "near the ebb line" (Alexander 1941, p. 127) that is only part of the truth.
Mori reports that semigranosus leaps from the sand in ad- vance of the wave and is then washed up or drawn back to a different location. He was able to trick the clams into coming forth by simulating the characteristics of a breaking wave : he sprinkled water about, scraped the sand with his foot and rapidly rotated a can in which sand and a Donax had been put. All these attempts to rouse D. fossor in Rockaw^ay remained fruitless. I have at times observed it to "leap" up from below the surface so that in one jerk it had its shell half uncovered, but since this occurred mainly at the jetties where Donax and its chief associate, the sand crab (Emerita talpoida Say) were concentrated in unbelievable numbers, I concluded that D. fossor did this to avoid an obstructing crab or another clam. However, it is entirely possible that this leaping from the sand does occur as the wave passes over the buried clam. But since the water at this moment is completely roiled by loosened sand, observation is impossible. It would be of value to experiment further to settle this point.
It is interesting to note the position assumed by the Japanese Donax as drawn by Mori in his figure 13b. Here too the shell orients itself with its longer axis parallel to the rush of the water, the wide posterior end facing in the direction of the current. The siphons however, are only little exserted, the ventral one about half as much as the dorsal, and both pointing straight back, neither assuming the curved position of fossor. It would be of great interest to observe the behavior of other Donax species throughout the world.
The contrast between the behavior of young Spisula solidis- sima Dillw. and D. fossor is significant. The former is a true sand dweller and being flushed from its shelter represents a tragedj'' for it. It lies helplessly in the open or makes a few feeble attempts to dig in. Unless by chance it succeeds in
Jan., 1955] the nautilus 77
getting back to deep water, it dies. In the waves and rush of water, it withdraws both siphons (united to the tip), and the foot, and is aimlessly thrown about like a dead shell.
The Donax, however, seems to have chosen its restless en- vironment, and its behavior in it lies well within its natural mode of life. This can be seen in the amazing success it has in keeping alive in this dangerous ecology. At its peak, Z>. fossor in numbers comes directly after the Spisula and perhaps Mytilus edulis L. in Rockaway. Yet dead Donax shells are surprisingly rare whereas the others clutter up the beaches the year round.
References
Alexander, Robert C. 1941. Some shells from South Cape May Beach. Nautilus, Vol. 54, pp. 126-128.
Mori, Syuiti. 1938. Donax semignosus Dkr. (sic) and the ex- perimental analysis of its behavior at the flood tide. Zoologi- cal Magazine Tokyo, Vol. 50, pp. 1-12.
Stoll, Eva. 1937. Beobachtungen ueber die Fortbewegung bei einigen grabenden Muscheln. Revue Suisse Zool. (Geneve), Vol. 44, pp. 383 ff.
THE OCCURRENCE OF POLYGYRA TEXASIANA (MORICAND) IN ALABAMA
By HUGH C. EAWLS Department of Chemistry, The Citadel
The purpose of this paper is to report the occurrence, in west-central Alabama, of Polygyra texasiana (Moricand), a species heretofore not recorded from that state.
Hinton (1951) recorded this species as Polygyra triodontoides (Bland), with the information that the shells were found in abundance in open prairie-land in Hale County, Alabama. Sub- sequently, the writer (1953), while studying Hinton 's specimens, noted that the aperture of each shell presents an althogether different picture from that of P. triodontoides: the teeth are similar, close together, and almost completely basal, whereas those of P. triodontoides are dissimilar and widely separated. In addition, the spire is quite depressed, whereas that of trio- dontoides is distinctly elevated. The features thus noted were
78 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (3)
strongly suggestive of Polygyra texdsiana, and upon comparison with topotypes of that species the writer has concluded that Hinton's specimens are indeed shells of texasiana. Sixty speci- mens from one locality in Hale County were measured and found to be separable into two sizes. Larger shells average 5.0 mm. in height and 10.0 mm. in diameter ; smaller specimens average 4.0 mm. by 8,0 mm. Both large and small forms have H/D indices of 0.5, as do individuals slighth^ intermediate in size. Pilsbry (1940) notes that texasiana is variable in size, and states that, in shells from single colonies in Texas, the diameters range from 7.6 mm. to 10.9 mm. Extreme diameters of Alabama specimens are well within this size range, and all other morpho- logical features are those of typical texasiana.
According to Pilsbry (1940), the range of texasiana extends from Brownsville and San Antonio northward and eastward through Texas into Oklahoma, western Arkansas and Louisiana. The occurrence of this species in Alabama represents an eastern extension of its known range, and constitutes a new state record.
The three known localities in Alabama are very close together, within six miles of each other. Such proximity, coupled with the fact that texasiana has not been found elsewhere in the state, suggests that this species may have been introduced. Hinton (1951) points out that the localities in which he collected are in an area where livestock is imported from Texas, and that the possibility does exist that the snails were introduced in herbage used for feed during the transport of cattle. This seems rather unlikely to the writer, since no other foreign shells were taken in the localities in which texasiana was found.
The discovery of Polygyra texasiana in Alabama should not be surprising; the localities are within the limits of the Alabama Black Belt, which is a typical long-grass prairie which shows rather distinct western affinities. Several other species have ranges which extend throughout the Gulf Coastal Plain, and the discontinuity between the Alabama localities and the previously published range of texasiana simply indicates the need for fur- ther work in the intervening states.
Alabama records: Near the Hale-Marengo county line, just south of Allenville on U. S. 80.
Prairieville, at the junction of U. S. 80 and Ala. 13. Four miles north of Faunsdale, on Ala. 99.
Jan., 1955] the nautilus 79
Literature Cited
HiNTON, J. H., 1951 : The terrestrial shell-bearing Mollusca of the Black Belt of Alabama. Master's thesis, University of Alabama.
PiLSBRY, H. A., 1940: The Land Mollusca of North America, vol. 1, part 2, The Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- delphia.
Rawls, H. C, 1953 : The land snails of Alabama, with notes on their ecology. Doctor's dissertation, University of Alabama.
NOTES ON THE GENERA LANX AND FISHEROLA (PULMONATA)
By J. P. E. MOEEISON i
The Division of Mollusks of the United States National Museum recently received for identification two lots of Fisherola. One lot of more than a dozen specimens with the animals was collected by members of the Idaho State Fisheries service, from the Snake River. These were sent to us by Dr. A. F. Bartsch of the Division of Water Pollution Control of the U. S. Public Health Service. The second lot, of more than 100 specimens with the animals, was collected and submitted to us by J. J. Davis, biologist of the Hanford, Washington, laboratories of the General Electric Corporation. These were collected by him from the Columbia River at McNary Dam, Benton, Co., Wash- ington. In the course of preparation and identification of these lots, all the shells of specimens of the Family Lancidae in the United States National Museum collections were reexamined.
H. B. Baker has published rather complete studies of the anatomy of Lanx (Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (ser. 4) 14: 143-169: 1925), together with figures of the radula and jaw of Fisherola. The superficial examination of these available animals of Fisherola shows them to agree in general external characters with those of Lanx. Specifically, Fisherola agrees with Lanx in com- pletely lacking a gill as Pilsbry (Nautilus 38: 73-75: 1925) has stated, and in the right posterior position of the anal opening in the mantle edge.
1 Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- tion.
80
THE NAUTILUS
[Vol. 68 (3)
Baird was apparently the first observer, and for many years the only one, to put on record the true orientation of Fisherola shells. In his 1863 description of kootenaiensis, Baird said : "vertice antico." Later authors gave the wrong orientation to the shells for many years. It remained for Pilsbry (loc. cit., p. 74) with the animals available, to correctly give the position of the apex (fundamentally anterior to the middle of the shell — in the midline) as a family character. Some of the old indi- viduals of Lanx in the United States National Museum collec- tions have shells with the apex a little posterior of the middle
Fig. 1. Lanx, diagram of shell outline (left profile). Fig. 2. Fisherola, diagram of shell outline (left profile). Fig. 3. Lanx, diagram of muscle scar on interior of shell. Fig. 4. Fisherola, diagram of muscle scar on interior of shell, anterior; P. posterior; R. right; L. left.
of the shell by actual measurement. Therefore we believe sub- central is the best word to use in describing the position of the apex of the Lanx shell (fig. 1).
Fisherola shells differ externally from those of Lanx in the position of the apex, notably forward of the middle of the shell outline (fig. 2). The anterior slope is usually concave. Baker (loc. cit., pi. 11, fig. 2) has figured the (columellar) muscle ring by means of which the animals of Lanx are attached to their shells. Fortunately for identification involving only the shells, the muscle scars on the interior of the shells are always present and characteristic for the Family Lancidae. Careful examination of these muscle scars will serve as a positive means of separating the shells of the genus Fisherola from those of
Jan., 1955] the nautilus 81
Lanx. A diagram of the shell interior and muscle sear of Lanx shows a "faulted" step in the middle region of the right side of the ring- (fig. 3). In contrast, shells of Fisherola show a condition matching the animals, with a distinctly open gap, wider than the width of the muscle (or sear), a little forward of the middle position on the right side of the muscle ring (fig. 4). In addition, this muscular ring (or scar) is more notably- narrowed over the anterior (head) position of Fisherola than it is in the genus Lanx. The muscle scar picture of Fisherola shells is a mirror image (right and left reversed) of the Euro- pean genus Pseudancylus, and is strongly reminiscent of that of Siphonaria shells. The Fisherola shells of course are not asymmetrical, as are those of Siphonaria, and Fisherola has this gap in the muscular ring for the passage of the intestine and lung complex, instead of for a siphon. This is very probably a functional convergence of the pattern of muscle sears, since we know by the other anatomy that the Lancidae are only in- directly related to the Siphonariidae.
The geographic distribution of the Lancidae is most inter- esting. To the best of our knowledge, the genus Fisherola is confined to the Columbia River drainage system. Pilsbry (loc. cit., p. 75) has suggested that all the forms of Fisherola may belong to the species nuttalli. The material in the United States National Museum collections is insufficient to completely prove this point. According to our material, the named form lancides from the Snake River may be a good subspecies. All the material we have seen from the rest of the system agrees with nuttalli, although individually variable. As the type locality of kootenaiensis, Baird gave the Kootenai and Spokane Rivers. The Kootenai River is here selected as the restricted type locality, so that if the form from that river (a form we have not seen) is different, the name will continue to be available subspecifieally. Our material from the Spokane River is not distinct enough on shell characters to be considered different from nuttalli.
The generic distinction of Fisherola shells is proven in the fossil record also. In the United States National Museum col- lections, there are two specimens of Fisherola nuttalli lancides Hannibal, from the "late Tertiary" fossil deposits at Minidoka,
82 THE NAUTILUS [Vol. 68 (3)
Idaho (U. S. Geol. Surv. No. 4411) collected years ago by Dr. G. K. Gilbert. These specimens show the characteristic muscle scars perfectly, and prove that Fisherola has been in the Co- lumbia (Snake) system since at least these "late Tertiary" times.
The species of Lanx, s.s., are only kno\\ai from the Coastal river systems to the south of the Columbia. The Umpqua River system of Oregon is the locality of Lanx suhrotundatus Tryon. The Ro<}:ue River has a form in it apparently identical in shells to siihrotundatus. "We have not seen enough material to prove or disprove this apparent identity. Does one species occur in more than one river system, or does each river system have a biologically distinct species? The Klamath River system is the range of the species altus Tryon. The upper Sacramento River is the true locality of Lanx newherryi Lea, according to Pilsbry (loc. cit., p. 75). With Lea's type material in front of us, and no other matching specimens collected and added to the United States National Museum collections since, except from the Sacramento River system, we are inclined to agree whole- heartedly with this correction of the locality by Pilsbry.
The section or subgenus Walkerola, which differs from typical Lanx only by the depressed shell shape, is a special development only known from the southern part of the range of the genus Lanx. Lanx (Walkerola) klamathensis Hannibal, as its name implies, is from the Klamath Sj^stem. Lanx (Walkerola) patel- loides Lea is from the upper Sacramento River drainage. This species may include hannai Walker (Occ. papers, Mus. Zool., U. of Mich., No. 165, p. 6, pi. 3, figs. 1-4: 1925) as a synon:^Tn. In this connection, the following problems of species characters or variation is worthy of attention and study. Lanx klama- thensis is unicolor, sometimes pale, but one lot seen, USNM No. 334388, said to be from L. Klamath, Klamath Falls, Oregon (W. Westgate) contains 5 specimens typical of klamathensis, and 2 specimens with the spotted color pattern of patelloides. Lanx patelloides (Lea) is characteristically so spotted like a Patella shell, that Tryon disdained to include it in his 1870 Monograph of Freshwater forms. We do not blame Tryon for being so suspicious of the origin of this species, at a time when incorrect locality data was much more of a problem than it is
Jan., 1955] the nautilus 83
today. Since he did not have personal experience as to the true habitat, it just didn't look right to him.
Now the problem is — are there only two species of Walkerola: (1) klamatliensis (unicolored) and (2) patelloides (spotted), with a few specimens mixed (incorrectly out of place) as re- gards locality data? Or — do both species occur in both river systems?? Or — are there 4 species: Mamathensis (unicolored), and another species (variegated) from the Klamath River sys- tem; with liannai Walker (unicolored) and patelloides Lea (variegated) both from the upper Sacramento River tribu- taries???. More material must be collected, and the animals critically examined before this problem will be permanently resolved. It may not be fundamentally important, but it cer- tainly will be interesting to know whether or not the family Lancidae is such an old relict type, that every species is now endemic, restricted to a single river system.
References
Baker, H. B. 1925. Anatomy of Lanx, a limpet-like Lymnaeid
Mollusk. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (ser. 4), 14 (8) :143-169,
pis. 11-14. PiLSBRY, H. A. 1925. The family Lancidae distinguished from
the Ancylidae. Nautilus, 38 : 73-75. Walker, B. 1918. A Synopsis of the Classification of the
Fresh Water Mollusca of North America, North of Mexico,
Misc. Publ. No. 6, Mus. Zool., U. of Mich. (Lancinae, pp.
17-18). . 1925. New species of North American Ancylidae and
Lancidae. Occ. Papers, No. 165, Mus. Zool., U. of Mich.
A NOTE ON AMYGDALUM PAPYRIA CONRAD IN MARYLAND WATERS OF CHESAPEAKE BAY
By J. FRANCES ALLEN Department of Zoology, University of Maryland
Amygdalum papyria Conrad, the paper mussel, occurs in Texas and Maryland to Florida (Abbott 1954). This genus has been described as thin and smooth, often with colored cobwebby designs, and this particular species as being elongate
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and smooth, glistening, fragile, and colored a delicate two tone bluish green and soft yellowish brown, with the interior an iridescent white (Abbott 1954).
Chesapeake Bay is represented in the collections of the United States National Museum by specimens from five localities. Mr. Ralph W. Jackson found them in the Little Choptank River at Town Point (Cat. No. 361668), and at Dailsville (Cat. No. 361669), both in Dorchester County. These two lots vary in color from yellowish brown to various shades of green and some from each locality have faint markings. He also collected this same species (Cat. No. 348954) from sea grass on the bank of the Choptank River at Sandy Hill. These had the same general appearance as those from the Little Choptank. During the Potomac River Oyster Survey carried out by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1943, specimens (Cat. No. 518856) were collected from Chicken Cock Bar in the St. Mary's River, St. Mary's County. They were yellowish to green with no mark- ings. Apparently the first collected at Crisfield was a single yellowish green specimen with a few irregular lines (Cat. No. 474091), found by Dr. Waldo Schmitt.
In 1951, the author found two of these small mussels attached to submerged vegetation at Ape Hole, Pocomoke Sound. Both were pure green in color with no cobweb-like markings and each measured 7 mm. in length. In July 1953, the same species, but of noticeably different color, was collected from the Little Annemessex River. During the same summer, and again in 1954, an effort was made to find additional representatives from Pocomoke Sound and the Little Annemessex River to determine the nature of their distribution and abundance in this area of the Bay.
Fifty-two specimens mostly attached to Ruppia maritima (Linn.) and to a lesser degree on Zannichella palustris (Linn.) occurred off shore in the Little Annemessex River, near the entrance to the small boat harbor at Crisfield, and just below the entrance to the Little Annemessex Canal (Allen 1954a). The3^ ranged in length from less than 3 mm. to 14.5 mm., averag- ing 10.5 mm. Their color varied from bright blue-green with no markings to pale green, almost olive, with a few brown mark- ings ; to pale green with numerous brown markings ; to dark brown or black with dark markings and with the periphery of
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the shell, a distinct green. Occasionally, the umbo area was brown and devoid of any markings. Sometimes the markings varied in number from few to many, with some lines being very fine while others were wide and dark.
Eight specimens were found attached to grass off shore from the McCready Memorial Hospital, located at the junction of the Little Annemessex River and the Annemessex Canal (Allen 1954a). The largest one, 8 mm. in length, was extremely dark, almost black, with markings and a green tinge at the edge of the shell ; while a second one, 4.5 mm., was dark brown with no markings. Of the six less than 3 mm., one was pale green to almost buff with indistinct marks; another was brown with no marks; and the other four were nearly white with neither color nor any indication of lines.
For collections in Pocomoke Sound, an ordinary crab scrape was used to remove the vegetation from the bottom, a two- gallon bucketful of which was retained for examination. The plants were washed twice, the washings screened to remove specimens and the vegetation was observed closely for addi- tional mussels still attached. A small dredge net was also used.
Collections were made in Pocomoke Sound from Ape Hole to Cedar Straits. Three specimens collected from the general area had different color variations: one was green with irregular brown markings; one was dark brown only; and the other was brown at the umbo region, changing to light green and then becoming darker at the periphery. A dredge net tow extending from near the entrance of Ape Hole going inshore toward the harbor secured 12 specimens ranging in length from 6.6 mm. to 14.6 mm., averaging 10.5 mm. The color differed from entirely black and brown with black markings to pale green with brown markings, and pale green with markings and a black periphery of the shell.
At Lower Ape Hole, six specimens averaged only 5.05 mm. in length while an additional eleven specimens were 3 mm. or less. Here all types of color variations were evident. However, the edge of the shell was often dark brown or even black. Nearly all individuals were attached to Bwppia maritima and the bottom here is very black mud. In June 1954, three specimens measur- ing in length 1 mm., 3.2 mm. and 4.7 mm. respectively were found in this same locality. The first one mentioned was entirely
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tan in color, and the other two, found beneath R. maritima above the high tide mark, were almost black with a total absence of lines.
The largest mussel, 18.9 mm., was found at "Ware Point, the average length of the twenty specimens collected from this locality being 12.32 mm. Color variations included all types previously mentioned, also some brown shells with a pinkish or red east which shaded to green with dark markings, so intense that the shell was dark at the edge, where in similar coloration the edge was green.
Only one specimen, 12 mm. long, green with brown markings, was found at Watkins Point. At Broad Creek, 3 specimens in shades of brown, one with markings and two without, and lack- ing any green were collected. One olive colored specimen with brown markings measuring 10.4 mm. was found off Long Point.
The following localities were also sampled but no representa- tives of this species were found: Manhoe Knoll, Big Island, Oyster Shell Point, and Green Harbor.
Some of the larger specimens in the collection at the National Museum were measured for length. One mussel from Sandy Hill measured 24.4 mm., while the larger ones from Town Point measured 27.1 27.3, 28.5, and 31.3 mm., respectively.
Of the collections reported here, all specimens were in general much smaller than those previously collected except for the one collected by Dr. Schmitt. The color of those mussels from Pocomoke Sound and from the Little Annemessex River show a wide assortment of color shades, from blue-green to olive, to yellow green, to an intense green ; markings are tan to light brown, to dark brown or black. In some cases, there is a com- plete absence of green or of markings. The markings them- selves, may be either so numerous or so wide that the shell ap- pears to be black or browTi unless it is examined under magnifi- cation. Overtones of red, rose, and pink occur on the darker shells. Occasionally, the irregular markings become circular lines which follow the contour of the shell.
From preliminary observations, it appears that color, size, and distribution are greatly influenced by environmental character- istics. The shade of green tends to be present in shells from less muddy areas than are the areas from which the dark shells were collected. In the localities visited, these mussels are usu-
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ally found attached to Ruppia maritima but apparently they are not abundant and their distribution is spotty. The genetic in- fluence on color is well recognized but since it has been estab- lished that the substratum (Allen 1954a, 1954b) and other en- vironmental factors influence the color and color shades in bi- valves, it seems that the possible effect of habitats on the wide differences in these forms is at least of interest. The perio- stracum is secreted by the mantle and it is the periostracum which gives this form its variety of color shades and patterns of markings.
The author is indebted to Dr. J. P. E. Morrison of the U. S. National Museum for permission to examine the collection of the Division of Mollusks. Appreciation is expressed to Mr. Howard Tyler and to Mr. Brice Tyler for the use of their boats and for their assistance in collecting.
Literature Cited
Abbott, R. Tucker. 1954. American Seashells. D. Van Nos- trand Co., Inc., New York, N. Y. 541 pp.
Allen, J. Frances. 1954a. Notes on the gastropods collected in the vicinity of Crisfield, Maryland. Naut. 67: 92-94.
. 1954b. The influence of bottom sediments on the distribu- tion of five species of bivalves in the Little Annemessex River, Chesapeake Bay. Naut. 68 : 56-65.
THE OCCURRENCE OF ESTUARINE BIVALVES IN AN UNUSUAL HABITAT
By J. FRANCES ALLEN Department of Zoology, University of Maryland
For several seasons the Crisfield Crab Co. of Crisfield, Mary- land has been shedding blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, in indoor tanks. The building housing this operation is con- structed over the waters of the Little Annemessex River which is adjacent to Tangier Sound of Chesapeake Bay. A continu- ally running supply of water is pumped through rubber tubing which at the intake has a screen with .223 inch openings, through plastic pipe into tanks made of wood. These tanks drain into
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wooden troughs whicli are six inches wide and four inches in depth. Approximately two and one half to three inches of water was flowing through these drains at all times. A certain amount of sediment settles out in these drains resulting in the formation of a shallow mud-sand substratum, largely mud.
In the spring of 1954, Mr. A. Wellington Tawes made the building available to Dr. R. A. Littleford and the author for experimental studies on crabs. Upon examination, the troughs were found to be almost completely filled with shells of various bivalves. Mr. Tawes stated that the water flow in the tanks had begun on May 1, 1953, and was continuous until the middle of August 1953, when due to hurricane winds, the power failed, the flow ceased, and the plant was closed for the season.
The mollusks found here had obviously been brought in with the water as planktonic larvae and having found a habitat satis- factory for attachment or burrowing were able to survive. They could not have been sucked into the intake as it was two and one half feet from the bottom, a sufficient distance to prevent this. When the plastic pipes were washed out, it was found that they also contained bivalves. Apparently, they simply at- tached to the pipe rather than to the troughs.
A random sample of shells filling two ten-quart buckets was collected.
Of the eight specimens of Volsella demissa Dillwyn, the ribbed mussel, the average length was 12.92 mm., the smallest one being 7.4 and the largest 14.5 mm. Amygdaluni papyria Conrad, the paper mussel, was represented by three individuals, all of which were small, measuring 7.1 mm., 12.8 mm., and 16.8 mm., re- spectively. Three oysters, Crassostrea virginica Gmelin, meas- uring 23.1, 29.5, and 31.5 mm. in length were found. The largest one was very fragile and was attached to the upright of the drain where nothing was present to impede its growth. In shape, it was only slightly convex, almost flat, and measured 34 mm. across the valve. The left valve was a very thin shell which was almost impossible to remove from its support. There were tints of gray, rose, and tan in the shell and superficially it did not closely resemble the ordinary oyster.
Of the species collected, Lae vicar dium mortoni Conrad was third in abundance. This is the first time, to the author's knowledge, that the so-called Morton's egg-cockle has been col-
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lected from this vicinity. The size range extended from 4.8 mm. through 18.3 mm. It is possible that the mud-sand habitat of the inshore areas is not suitable for survival as this area has been carefully examined and sampled (Allen 1954a).
Mulinia lateralis Say, the dwarf surf clam, was by far the most abundant of the species present. It demonstrated good growth as some were nearly an inch long, 22 mm., although some representatives were small. Their occurrence and size in this habitat are of particular interest to the author for until this occasion, she had collected only two very small specimens, 4.8 mm. and 9.7 mm. long, in Ape Hole of Pocomoke Sound, and Somers Cove of the Little Annemessex River, respectively. Since M. lateralis apparently prefers sand (Dr. J. P. E. Mor- rison, personal communication), the high mud content of the inshore substratum in the areas previously examined was not conducive to survival and growth. Three malformed specimens were found among the normal forms. Both valves of each clam were deeply cleft and superficial examination would not neces- sarily indicate that they are members of this species. The ab- normality was so similar in each case, that they looked like a different type.
The angel wing, Crytopleura costata Linn, (following the generic name as designated by Turner, 1954, rather than Barnea), was second in abundance. They measured as much as 22.7 mm. in length. Their small burrows riddled the dried mud, and the fact that the posterior of the shell was sometimes curved vertically was due to crowding against the drain. The smallest specimen measured was 5.6 mm. long, but due to their fragility, and the hardness of the dry mud in which they oc- curred, incidental observations indicated that they were even smaller.
Mya arenaria Linn., the soft clam, was quite numerous. The lengths of 78 specimens ranging from 14.2 to 29.5 mm. averaged 20.93 mm. However, the few smaller specimens measured only 5.2 mm. This clam, as well, exhibited good growth.
The development and growth of these species of bivalves in this unusual habitat is important in several ways. It is now known that the larvae of these forms are present in these waters and conditions are satisfactory or even optimum for their sur- vival and growth, if given a chance. The fact that the habitat
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under discussion was available only from the first of May until the middle of August, a period of three and one half months, at most, gives a starting place for life history studies and re- productive cycles in these groups and shows that their growth must be relatively rapid. One fact worthy of note is the total absence of the short razor clam, Tageliis pleheius Solander, and of Macoma halthica Linn., which are so abundant in the mud- sand substratum of this region (Allen 1954b). Obviously, their spawning periods are not simultaneous with those of the other forms mentioned, for at least some representatives would have survived.
Appreciation is expressed to Mr. A. Wellington Tawes for the use of the facilities described and for pertinent information, and to Mr. Frank Evans for his interest in being sure that the author had examined the drains and for his cooperation for using the facilities made available.
Literature Cited
Allen, J. Frances. 1954a. Notes on the gastropods collected in the vicinity of Crisfield, Maryland. Naut. 67 : 92-94.
. 1954b. The influence of bottom sediments on the distri- bution of five species of bivalves in the Little Annemessex River, Chesapeake Bay. Naut. 68 56-65.
Turner, Ruth D. 1954. The family Pholadidae in the Western Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific. Part I — Pholadinae. John- sonia 3 : 1-64.
ESCAPED ESCARGOTS
By DR. W. J. EEES British Museum, London
There are moments in the life of the wanderer far from kith and kin (be he immigrant, explorer, or mere tourist) when some small object or incident brings back instant memories of home. So it was with John Carson, an English immigrant to the Australian State of Victoria in 1849, when he found a slug in his garden which he immediately recognized and greeted as an old friend from his native land. In nostalgic mood he care- fully replaced it on the ground, but, within a year, the situation
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was radically different, and he spent much of his evenings fight- ing a losing battle against the hordes, which now threatened the very existence of his garden.
The story outlined above is a familiar one in the history of introduced animals and plants in countries where they are not native. We have, among many others, the prickly pear and the rabbit in Australia, and the giant African snail in the Indo- Pacific — all amply demonstrating the folly of interfering with the balance of Nature, either by accident or design.
Among the many snails which have succeeded in spreading to various parts of the world are several European species. None has been more successful and more widely dispersed than the persecuted dweller in British gardens, the common snail. In its travels it has acquired a large number of vernacular names, but it is as Helix aspersa that it is known to naturalists all over the world.
In England, Helix aspersa is only a very minor garden pest, but, because of its comparatively large size, it is often blamed for the more serious depredations of the smaller slugs. It is a home-loving creature, spending most of its days in a crevice, to which it returns after foraging expeditions, made mainly at night. During the winter, it may hibernate for six months or more with the mouth of the shell sealed up with a kind of diaphragm (epiphragm) of dried mucus. In this state it can exist for over a year, drawing on its reserves of fat and glycogen at a much reduced rate, but once climatic conditions become favorable again, the snail resumes an active life. Similarly, summer dormancy is induced by drought. This ability to lie dormant for long periods during adverse times has undoubtedly played a great part in enabling the snail to survive lengthy trans-ocean journeys in days when travel was more leisurely than now.
Snails are a favorite item in the diet of Latin peoples, and what is more natural than that they should take with them a consignment of escargots, hibernating in casks, to relieve the monotony of a diet of salt pork on voyages? It is, in fact, well known that sailing vessels would depart on long voyages carrying no fewer than seven or eight thousand snails of this species. At ports of call what better gift to a fellow countryman, official or priest, than some escargots for his table? We do not
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have to imagine the sequel as it has been recorded for us by E. L. Layard, an officer of the Consular Service, for Cape Town and New Caledonia, and it is likely to have been repeated at many other places.
Concerning Cape Town, where the mollusc is to-day abundant and a great nuisance in gardens, Layard records: "In 1854 (or 1855, I am not sure which) I was living in the 'Gardens,' that part of Cape Town running up the slope of Table Mountain. I one day noticed in the vineyard attached to my house, on a wall, a cluster of young H. aspersa. Of course I knew at once they must be an introduction. Soon complaints were made of vines and vegetables being devoured by snails, and as I was known to be a ' snail collector, ' the introduction of the marauder was set down to me. This I at once repudiated, and set to work to find out who had done it. I discovered that some months previously a French man-of-war had been in the harbour and having received much kindness and attention from the French Consul, Monsieur Dastre, had requited it somewhat by pre- senting him with a little barrel of 'escargots' of which he was very fond. Monsieur Dastre was a wise man ! He reasoned with himself — 'I'll eat the big ones and plant the little ones' — and chucked them over the garden walls; and they increased and multiplied and filled the land. ..."
Many years later (in 1879) Layard was able to record finding it for the first time in New Caledonia, "and went off in a spirit of inquiry (seasoned with diplomacy) to Monsieur Luguier [the Resident] ... a little manoeuvring brought round the question, did he like escargots? 'Ah, yes!' and he had lately had a stroke of luck; a French man-of-war had called in and given him a nice lot of them; he had eaten the large ones and had distributed the small ones about the place, and when they grew bigger and had large families, he would have a dish at command. ' '
There seems little doubt that the fondness of the Latin peoples for transporting and importing edible snails was a major factor in dispersal to many places, notably, Haiti (1822) ; Cayenne (1822) ; French Guiana, Senegal, St. Helena, and Rio de Janeiro (1837) ; Cape Town (1854) ; Mauritius (1873) ; New Caledonia (1879) ; and the Seychelles (1880) — in some instances these dates only note the time when the snails were first re-
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corded. The original introductions may have been much earlier, and, in this connexion, dare we suggest that Helix aspersa's presence at St. Helena goes back to the days when Napoleon was exiled there?
It also occurs at Madeira, the Canaries, and the Azores, but whether imported as edible snails or accidentally with plants is not clear. Entry in soil with plants or among commercial plant products is recognized as one of the easiest ways for the spread of snails — how else could they have reached the mid- ocean islands of Pitcairn, Norfolk Island, and Hawaii? Even more remote are Tristan da Cunha (in the Atlantic) and Easter Island (in the Pacific), but the common snail has reached them and appears to be quite at home.
Helix aspersa has found its way to practically every country in the new world, from Canada in the north to Argentina in the south. Most of the colonies in the Latin-American countries seem to have originated from importations for culinary pur- poses— many of the records going gack to the middle of the nineteenth century and earlier.
In the United States the snail is now naturalized in no fewer than six states as a result of independent introductions — for food, on account of misplaced zeal by enthusiastic conchologists, and, it is thought, in at least one instance, accidentally with plants. The first colony existed at Portland, Maine, in 1838, but its descendants seem to have disappeared from this locality. It was naturalized in gardens at Charleston, South Carolina, and in New Orleans before 1850, and specimens from Ireland were released at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1883,
The most successful introduction was to California, between 1850 and 1860, where the climate provides ideal conditions for the snail to multiply. A stock of snails from France was brought to San Jose by a man called Delmas, who released them in vineyards, and he is reputed also to have started colonies at Los Angeles and San Francisco. By the turn of the century the snail was recognized as a pest, and by 1931 it could be found in most of the cultivated areas of California, from San Diego County to Sonoma County.
A report written at this time showed that it had become a con- siderable pest in citrus groves. The culture of citrus trees in- volves regular irrigation and mulching of the soil, which pro-
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vide ideal conditions under which the snail can breed practically the whole year round, so that enormous populations of the mollusk can become established. These quickly defoliate the trees and injure the fruit, allowing fungi to complete the spoil- ing of the latter. Control measures, such as hand picking and the use of poison baits, are effective so long as they are main- tained.
In the Antipodes, too, this common snail is found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. There are no precise records of how or when it got to Australia, but it was plentiful around Melbourne in 1879, and later it was found to be equally abund- ant in gardens at Sydney. It was also known to be naturalized in gardens at Adelaide in 1884, and rapidly spreading, so that by 1924 Sir Joseph Verco was able to say that for many years it had been the common snail of South Australia. From Mel- bourne it was deliberately imported to Hobart, in Tasmania, about the year 1878, by the conchologist Beddome. By 1884 it was thoroughly acclimatized, spreading by 1890 to many towns on the coast. In more recent times it has been reported from Perth and Fremantle but it appears to be absent from Queens- land and the more arid parts of the country.
In Sydney gardens, where aspersa is much more of a pest than in England, some interesting observations have been made on its relations with other species. A native carnivorous snail, Strangesta capillacea, which is only half the size of a full grown aspersa, has acquired a taste for the immigrant, and, once it finds its slimy track, will follow like a bloodhound, finally over- taking and eating it. The meal lasts several days, and if the Strangesta remains continuously on a diet of aspersa for a month it will die — it is presumed from the cumulative effects of a mild poison in the tissues of its prey. This is not the end of the tale, for there is another actor in the drama, the cellar snail (Oxy chillis cellarius) — also an abundant British immigrant — which feeds on the young of both species. Whether Strangesta will continue to include aspersa in its diet, no one can tell, but its final verdict may well be that it is not good eating.
Such preliminary observations merely lift the corner of the veil on problems arising from even a slight disturbance in the balance of Nature.
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A FRESHWATER MOLLUSK SURVEY OF NORTH FLORIDA RIVERS
By WILLIAM J. CLENCH
Under the auspices of the University of Florida/ a mollusk survey has been conducted of the Jim Woodruff Dam area. The dam is situated at Chattahoochee, Florida on the Apalachicola River and, when completed, will flood areas in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. It is built a few hundred yards below the place where the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers join to form what is known as the Apalachicola River, which continues south to the Gulf of Mexico. Studies on the birds, reptiles, insects and other groups are being made by members of the University of Florida as well as by members of other institutions. Our party in the summer of 1953 consisted of Mrs. Clench, Dr. Ruth Turner and the author. The survey for mollusks was continued in 1954, and was broadened to include several other major streams in northern Florida from the Escambia on the west to the Suwan- nee on the east. The party this year consisted of Dr. Ruth Turner, Donald McMichael (Australian Museum, Sydney) and the author. Actually the beginnings of this broader survey went back to 1929 when Dr. Peter Okkelberg (now Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan) and I made a survey of the upper Chattahoochee and Flint rivers. Subsequent collecting was also done by Dr. Henry van der Schalie and me in 1933.
The main purpose of the survey during both 1953 and 1954 was to collect mollusks in the area to be inundated when the dam is completed. This will put on record its present fauna and later, other surveys will be conducted to note and record any changes in the biota after lake conditions have prevailed for some time. The year 1953 was a more or less normally wet year. The large rivers were *'up" and it was nearly impossible to collect in them. Land shell collecting, however, was good to excellent. In 1954, the south had a drought, its worst in many years with dry conditions prevailing over a wide territory.
1 Eesearch supported in part by the U. S. National Park Service, in cooperation mth the Florida State Museum, the Department of Biology, University of Florida and the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.
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The big rivers were "down" and, what was most unusual, they were clear. This was my fourth attempt to collect in the lower reaches of these rivers. High water during the first three trips prevented anything but casual collecting other than in the smaller streams. The recent trip of 1954 was of a "jack-pot" status. As stated above, all of the big rivers were low and clear and the mollusks were available for the taking.
Years ago the Chattahoochee River possessed a rich biota. Today it is barren, at least for mollusks. We possess many lots of freshwater mollusks for this large river, all collected nearly a century ago, but now all appear to be extirpated. During the war between the states, farming on an intensive scale brought about the destruction of most of its fauna. Rapid erosion of the soil silted the river beyond the capacity of the mollusks to survive and our museum series alone bears mute testimony to its once rich fauna. We have attempted on four trips to collect in this stream but without results. Even in its low and clear stage of the past year our search was completely fruitless at a place some eight miles northeast of Bascom, Florida (Florida, Route 2). Not even a fragment of a dead shell was to be found within a distance of about 500 yards above and below a ferry landing at this point.
The Flint River, however, is still a rich stream and, when at low water stage, is very rewarding for the collector. Silting has been nearly as heavy here but the Flint has a series of huge springs which feed it and aid in keeping the river partially clear, at least diluting the silt sufficiently to keep its fauna alive.
Northern Florida is far different from the central and southern portions of the peninsula. In reality it is the same as southern Georgia and Alabama, having slightly rolling country with pro- nounced valleys, through which the streams and rivers have cut their way. Coastal Florida, even in the northern Gulf area, is, of course, flat, much of it being freshwater swamp land which gives way to the salt marsh area on the coast proper. Time did not allow investigation of this lowland area. All our time was spent in the northern strip, a country of mixed farming, pineland and some deciduous forests. At nearly every bridge which spans a major stream, little side roads lead down to the water's edge, making it easy country to collect when the rivers are low and clear.
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A more detailed account of the fauna will appear at a later date though I would like to highlight a few stations that we found to be of more than passing interest. "We made two sta- tions on the Flint River, the first at Hutchinson's Ferry near Recovery, Georgia and the second at Bainbridge, Georgia. Un- fortunately these stations will be destroyed when the dam is completed and the area flooded. Both places were visited in 1953 with very indifferent luck as to freshwater mollusks. The story was very different in 1954, the water being down and clear. In both places ledge rock was exposed and there were clear pools of varying depths. Pleurocerids were rather rare but unionids were very abundant. Campeloma geniculum Con- rad was exceedingly abundant at Bainbridge; we could have filled a bushel basket in an hour.
Rivers, like people, develop personalities when you get to know them. The Chipola River, a tributary of the Apalachicola, is outstanding as such a stream. Its drainage area is narrow and most of its water comes from several large springs which feed it continuously with clear water. Its banks are sandy mud, much of it margined with cypress, and these beautiful trees are usually festooned with Spanish moss. We made six stations on this river ; all were rich. At its lower end, just before draining into the Apalachicola, it broadens out into a reach of water known as Dead Lake. Here it is a mile or so wide with ridges of cypress trees running parallel with the shore.
Amhlema neislerii Lea has always been considered a very rare unionid, and it occurs only in the Apalachicola system. We found it to be very rare other than at Dead Lake, but here they existed in vast numbers. For that matter I might mention that I have never seen such rich collecting as existed in this locality. Species are not numerous in any of these rivers, at least not when compared with the Coosa or Tennessee river systems, but individuals of one or more species do exist in great abundance. At this station nearly all of the species we obtained occurred in considerable numbers.
The Ocklockonee River differed materially from the Chipola. Its upper reaches above the coastal plain cut a shallow valley, mainly in sandy country. Mud and vegetable detritus were rare and so were gastropods. Only a few Campeloma and Physa
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were found; no pleuroeerids at all. Unionidae were plentiful and some of the finest examples of their kind were taken from some six stations made on this stream.
Perhaps I should close with the Suwannee River. Near Old Town, on U. S. Route 19, there was a little roadside park with water and tables. A