Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 32

China and Ceylon j.a.pan.

Percini.

callionymidae 0 7 uranoscopidae 0 7 cottidae 0 13 triglidae 11 37 polynemidae 12 3 mullidae 1 7 percidae 26 12 berycidae 0 5 sillaginidae 3 1 sciaenidae 19 13 haemulinidae 6 12 serranidae 31 38 theraponidae 8 20 cirrhitidae 0 2 maenidiae 37 25 sparidae 16 17 acanthuridae 14 6 chaetodontidae 25 21 fistularidae 2 3 Periodopharyngi.

mugilidae 5 7 anabantidae 6 15 pomacentridae 10 11 Pharyngognathi.

labridae 16 35 s...o...b..resocidae 13 6 blenniidae 3 8 s...o...b..rina.

zeidae 0 2 sphyraenidae 5 4 s...o...b..ridae 118 62 xiphiidae 0 1 cepolidae 0 5 Heterosomata.

platessoideae 5 22 siluridae 31 24 cyprinidae 19 52 scopelinidae 2 7 salmonidae 0 1 clupeidae 43 22 gadidae 0 2 macruridae 1 0 Apodes.

anguillidae 8 12 muraenidae 8 6 sphagebranchidae 8 10

CHAP. V.

CONCHOLOGY, ETC.

I. THE Sh.e.l.lS OF CEYLON.

Allusion has been made elsewhere to the profusion and variety of sh.e.l.ls which abound in the seas and inland waters of Ceylon[1], and to the habits of the Moormen, who monopolise the trade of collecting and arranging them in satin-wood cabinets for transmission to Europe. But, although naturalists have long been familiar with the marine testacea of this island, no successful attempt has yet been made to form a cla.s.sified catalogue of the species; and I am indebted to the eminent conchologist, Mr. Sylva.n.u.s Hanley, for the list which accompanies this notice of those found in the island.

[Footnote 1: See Vol. II. P. ix. ch. v.]

In drawing it up, Mr. Hanley observes that he found it a task of more difficulty than would at first be surmised, owing to the almost total absence of reliable data from which to construct it. Three sources were available: collections formed by resident naturalists, the contents of the well-known satin-wood boxes prepared at Trincomalie, and the laborious elimination of locality from the habitats ascribed to all the known species in the mult.i.tude of works on conchology in general.

But, unfortunately, the first resource proved fallacious. There is no large collection in this country composed exclusively of Ceylon sh.e.l.ls.

And the very few cabinets rich in the marine treasures of the island having been filled as much by purchase as by personal exertion, there is an absence of the requisite confidence that all professing to be Singhalese have been actually captured in the island and its waters.

The cabinets arranged by the native dealers, though professing to contain the productions of Ceylon, include sh.e.l.ls which have been obtained from other islands in the Indian seas; and books, probably from these very facts, are either obscure or deceptive. The old writers content themselves with a.s.signing to any particular sh.e.l.l the too-comprehensive habitat of "the Indian Ocean," and seldom discriminate between a specimen from Ceylon and one from the Eastern Archipelago or Hindustan. In a very few instances, Ceylon has been indicated with precision as the habitat of particular sh.e.l.ls, but even here the views of specific essentials adopted by modern conchologists, and the subdivisions established in consequence, leave us in doubt for which of the described forms the collective locality should be retained.

Valuable notices of Ceylon sh.e.l.ls are to be found in detached papers, in periodicals, and in the scientific surveys of exploring voyages. The authentic facts embodied in the monographs of Reeve, Kuster, Sowerby, and Kienn, have greatly enlarged the knowledge of the marine testacea; and the land and fresh-water mollusca have been similarly ill.u.s.trated by the contributions of Benson and Layard in the _Annals of Natural History_.

The dredge has been used but only in a few insulated spots along the coasts of Ceylon; European explorers have been rare; and the natives, anxious only to secure the showy and saleable sh.e.l.ls of the sea, have neglected the less attractive ones of the land and the lakes. Hence Mr.

Hanley finds it necessary to premise that the list appended, although the result of infinite labour and research, is less satisfactory than could have been wished. "It is offered," he says, "with diffidence, not pretending to the merit of completeness as a sh.e.l.l-fauna of the island, but rather as a form, which the zeal of other collectors may hereafter elaborate and fill up."

Looking at the little that has yet been done, compared with the vast and almost untried field which invites explorers, an a.s.siduous collector may quadruple the species. .h.i.therto described. The minute sh.e.l.ls especially may be said to be unknown; a vigilant examination of the corals and excrescences upon the spondyli and pearl-oysters would signally increase our knowledge of the Rissoae, Chemnitziae, and other perforating testacea, whilst the dredge from the deep water will astonish the amateur by the wholly new forms it can scarcely fail to display.

Dr. Kelaart, an indefatigable observer, has recently undertaken to investigate the Nudibranchiata, Inferobranchiata, and Tectibranchiata; and a recently-received report from him, in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, in which he has described fifty-six species,--thirty-three belonging to the genus Doris alone--gives ample evidence of what may be expected from the researches of a naturalist of his acquirements and industry.

_List of Ceylon Sh.e.l.ls._

The arrangement here adopted is a modified Lamarckian one, very similar to that used by Reeve and Sowerby, and by MR. HANLEY, in his _Ill.u.s.trated Catalogue of Recent Sh.e.l.ls_.[1]

[Footnote 1: Below will be found a general reference to the Works or Papers in which are given descriptive notices of the sh.e.l.ls contained in the following list; the names of the authors (in full or abbreviated) being, as usual, annexed to each species.

ADAMS, _Proceed. Zool. Soc._ 1853, 54, 56; _Thesaur. Conch._ ALBERS, _Zeitsch. Malakoz._ 1853. ANTON, _Wiegm. Arch. Nat._ 1837; _Verzeichn.

Conch._ BECK in _Pfeiffer, Symbol. Helic._ BENSON, _Ann. Nat. Hist._ vii. 1851; xii. 1853; xviii. 1856. BLAINVILLE, _Dict. Sc. Nat.; Nouv.

Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat._ i. BOLTEN, _Mus._ BORN, _Test. Mus. Caes. Vind._ BRODERIP, _Zool. Journ._ i. iii. BRUGUIDRE, _Ency. Method. Vers._ CARPENTER, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1856. CHEMNITZ, _Conch. Cab._ CHENU, _Illus. Conch._ DESHAYES, _Encyc. Meth. Vers.; Mag. Zool._ 1831; _Voy.

Belanger; Edit. Lam. An. s. Vert.; Proceed. Zool. Soc._ 1853, 54, 55.

DILLWYN, _Descr. Cat. Sh.e.l.ls._ DOHRN, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1857, 58; _Malak. Blatter; Land and Fluviatile Sh.e.l.ls of Ceylon._ DUCLOS, _Monog.

of Oliva_. FABRICIUS, _in Pfeiffer Monog. Helic.; in Dohrn's MSS._ FeRUSSAC, _Hist. Mollusques._ FORSKaL, _Anim. Orient._ GMELIN, _Syst.

Nat_. GRAY, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1834, 52; _Index Testaceologicus Suppl.; Spicilegia Zool.; Zool. Journ._ i.; _Zool. Beechey Voy_. GRATELOUP, _Act. Linn. Bourdeaux_, xi. GUERIN, _Rev. Zool_. 1847. HANLEY, _Thesaur.

Conch_. i.; _Recent Bivalves; Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1858. HINDS, _Zool. Voy.

Sulphur; Proc. Zool. Soc_. HUTTON, _Journ. As. Soc_. KARSTEN, _Mus.

Lesk_. KIENER, _Coquilles Vivantes_. KRAUSS, _Sud-Afrik Mollusk_.

LAMARCK, _An. sans Verteb_. LAYARD, _Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1854. LEA, _Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1850, LINNaeUS, _Syst. Nat_. MARTINI, _Conch. Cab_.

MAWE, _Introd. Linn. Conch.; Index. Test. Suppl_. MEUSCHEN, in _Gronov.

Zoophylac_. MENKE, _Synop. Mollus_. MULLER, _Hist. Verm. Terrest_.

PEt.i.t, _Pro. Zool. Soc_. 1842. PFEIFFER, _Monog. Helic.; Monog.

Pneumon.; Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1852, 53, 54, 55, 56 _Zeitschr. Malacoz_.

1853. PHILIPPI, _Zeitsch. Mal_. 1846, 47; _Abbild. Neuer Conch_. POTIEZ et MICHAUD, _Galerie Douai_. RANG, _Mag. Zool_. ser. i. p. 100. ReCLUZ, _Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1845; _Revue Zool. Cuv_.1841; _Mag. Conch_. REEVE, _Conch. Icon.; Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1842, 52. SCHUMACHER, _Syst_.

SHUTTLEWORTH. SOLANDER, in _Dillwyn's Desc. Cat. Sh.e.l.ls_. SOWERBY, _Genera Sh.e.l.ls; Species Conch.; Conch. Misc.; Thesaur. Conch.; Conch.

Illus.; Proc. Zool. Soc.; App. to Tankerville Cat_. SPENGLER, _Skrivt.

Nat. Selsk. Kiobenhav_. 1792. SWAINSON, _Zool. Ill.u.s.t_. ser. ii.

TEMPLETON, _Ann. Nat. Hist_. 1858. TROSCHEL, in _Pfeiffer, Mon. Pneum; Zeitschr. Malak_. 1847; _Weigm. Arch. Nat_. 1837. WOOD, _General Conch_.]

Aspergillum Javanum, _Brug._ Enc. Met.

sparsum, _Sowerby_, Gen. Sh.e.l.ls.[1]

clavatum, _Chenu_, Ill.u.s.t. Conch.

Teredo nucivorus, _Spengl_. Skr. Nat. Sels.[2]

Solen truncatus, _Wood_, Gen. Conch.

linearis, _Wood_, Gen. Conch.

cultellus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.

radiatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.

Anatina subrostrata, _Lamarck_, Anim. s. Vert.

Anatinella Nicobarica, _Gm_. Syst. Nat.

Lutraria Egyptiaca, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.

Blainvillea vitrea, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[3]

Scrobicularia angulata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[4]

Mactra complanata, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc.[5]

tumida, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.

antiquata, _Reeve_ (as of _Spengler_), Conch. Icon.

cygnea, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.

Corbiculoides, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.

Mesodesma Layardi, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.

striata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[6]

Cra.s.satella rostrata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.

sulcata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.

Amphidesma duplicatum, _Sowerby_. Species Conch.

Pandora Ceylonica, _Sowerby_, Conch. Mis.

Galeomma Layardi. _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856.

Kellia peculiaris, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856.

Petricola cultellus, _Deshayes_ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853.

Sanguinolaria rosea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.

Psammobia rostrata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.

occidens, _Gm_. Systema Naturae.

Skinneri, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon.[7]

Layardi, _Desh_. P.Z. Soc. 1854.