Specific Character.
B. testâ obovatâ, spirâ conicâ, anfractibus 5 convexis, suturâ simplici, umbilico aperto.
Shell obovate; spire conic, of five convex volutions; suture simple; umbilicus open.
Lister 34. 33. Martini 9. tab. 110. 928. 929?
Obs. Bulimus aureus, in Mr. Spurrett's valuable cabinet is another specimen of this shell minutely agreeing with that here described.
Having seen but a single specimen of this shell, I have placed it as a distinct species, not without some doubts, and principally for the purpose of calling the attention of conchologists to a more rigid examination of the specific distinctions of this family (unconnected with colour) than has heretofore been done. The regular convexity of the whorls, not in any degree compressed at the suture, the want of that thickened appearance on the spire, and of the contraction at the base of the mouth (all which characters I have found in the varieties of B. citrinus to be constant), afford a specific distinction which future observations must confirm or annul. Bruguiere notices a variety of B. citrinus which is entirely yellow, a most beautiful specimen of which is in the British Museum, and which possesses (as well as the excellent figure of Gualtieri) all the specific characters I have given to B. citrinus, but not of the present shell. Lister's figure, on the contrary, is rude, though very characteristic of this; and Martini's representation, here cited, also appears the same.
Mr. Dubois, in whose collection this specimen exists, is unacquainted with its locality.
