Zoological Illustrations/VolIII-Pl177



spirillus,

Carinated Turnip Shell.


 * Testa pyriformis vel fusiformis, sub-ponderosa. Apex papillosus. Columella plicata. Labium interius margine dilatatum. Canalis elongatus, rectus.


 * Shell pear-shaped or fusiform, heavy. Apex papillary. Pillar plaited. Interior lip with the margin dilated. Canal lengthened, straight.


 * Generic Type. Voluta Pyrum. Lin.


 * T. pyriformi; spirâ depressâ, apice prominente; anfractu basali carinato; labio interiore dilatato, albo; columellæ basi plicatâ.


 * Shell pear-shaped; spire depressed, apex prominent; basal whorl carinated, interior lip dilated, white; base of the pillar one-plaited.


 * Murex spirillus. Gmelin, 3544. Dillwyn, 721.


 * Martini, 3. tab. 115. f. 1069. Knorr, 6. tab. 24. f. 3.


 * Pyrula Spirillus. Lam. Syst. 7. p. 142.

In assigning a situation, under the modern system, to the Murex spirillus of Linnæus, no genus appears to me more adapted for its reception than that of Turbinellus. These shells were formerly blended with the Linnæan Volutes, but are now detached from them as a distinct genus. The most striking peculiarity consists in the prolongation of the base into a long and straight canal; they possess, in common with the Volutes, a papillary spire, and, in general, their surface is smooth. There are, however, other shells classed by the French conchologists with this genus, from their having a plaited columella; in these, the apex of the spire is acute, the base truncated, and the outside rough with nodules or obtuse spines; characters so greatly at variance, and so very distinct from those first mentioned, that it becomes questionable whether these latter shells should not rather be classed as a distinct group: in fact, they are much more nearly allied to Mitra and Cancellaria, which have acute spires, sculptured volutions, and truncate bases, than to the smooth Turbinelli, which differ so strikingly in all these particulars.

This shell is common to many parts of the Indian Ocean; and, like most of the smooth Turbinelli, has the inner lip dilated.