The following species of fossil Balanidæ are given in that most
useful work, the 'Enumerator Palæontologicus' in Bronn's 'Gesichte
der Natur:' it has appeared to me that a few words on each species,
might hereafter save others the trouble of searching through several
works.
_Tubicinella maxima_ of Morren, said to have been found in the Chalk:
this would have been a wonderful fact, considering that no true
sessile cirripede has hitherto been found in this formation, and that
it implies the existence of Cetacea at this period; but I have been
informed that the fossil in question is not a Cirripede.
_Diadema bifidum_ = Coronula bifida of Bronn, in his 'Italiens
Tertiär-Gebilde' (1831), p. 126 (no Plate). Without a much fuller
description I can form no judgment on this species.
_Diadema vulgare_ is probably the _Coronula barbara_, a Crag fossil
described by me.
_Pyrgoma undata_, Michelotti, in 'Bull. Soc. Geolog.' tom. x, p. 141,
a mere name without any description: probably it is a synonym of
_Pyrgoma sulcatum_, Philippi, 'Enum. Mollusc. Siciliæ,' which is a
synonym of _Pyrgoma Anglicum_ of the present work; found recent and
fossil.
_Acasta Montagui_ is probably the extinct _Acasta undulata_ described
by me.
_Chthamalus giganteus_ of Philippi, is the _Pachylasma giganteum_ of
this work; found recent and fossil.
_Chthamalus stellatus_, said by Philippi to be found fossil in
Sicily; such may be the case, but the littoral habits of the species
do not render it very probable.
_Balanus carbonarius_ of Petzholdt, found in the Carboniferous
formation! but I have given my reasons, in my 'Monograph on the
Fossil Lepadidæ,' p. 5, for disbelieving that this is a Balanus, or
even a Cirripede.
_Balanus ostrearum_ appears to be a mere name by Conrad, published
by Morton in his 'Synopsis of the Organic Remains of the Cretaceous
Group,' 1834, Appendix, p. 8.
_Balanus peregrinus_ is briefly described and poorly figured, without
the opercular valves, by Morton, in his 'Synopsis,' _ut supra_, p.
72, Pl. 10, fig. 5: this Eocene species apparently resembles the
Eocene _B. unguiformis_ of Sowerby, described in this work; but quite
indispensable details of structure for identification are not given.
Another figure of this shell is given in the 'American Journal of
Science' (N. S.), vol. i, Pl. 2, fig. 6.
_Balanus circinnatus_, _communis_, and _pustula_, of Defrance,
as well as all the other species named by him, are described so
imperfectly, that the descriptions are of no value whatever, every
description being applicable to every species: I must add, that the
_B. communis_ is not the _B. communis_ of British authors, a name
applied to several forms.
_Balanus Finchii_ is briefly described and figured, but without the
opercular valves, by Isaac Lea, in his 'Contributions to Geology,'
1833, p. 211, Pl. 6, fig. 222. I do not think that I have seen this
species.
_Balanus Holgeri_, Geinitz, 'Grundriss der Versteinerungen,' tab. ix,
fig. 19. No opercular valves are given; this species cannot be even
approximately recognised.
_Balanus proteus_, Conrad, 'Fossil Shells of Miocene Formation of U.
States,' p. 77, Pl. 44 (in 'Journal Acad. Nat. Sc.,' Phil., vol. vii,
p. 134). I cannot recognise this species; it resembles _B. porcatus_;
but as the radii are rather narrow, and apparently with slightly
oblique summits, it may be _B. concavus_; the opercular valves are
not figured.
_Balanus sagittata_ is merely a provisional name without any
description, given in a paper on the Crag by S. Woodward, in the
'London and Edin. Philosoph. Magazine, Brewster, Taylor, and
Phillips,' vol. vii, July-December, 1835, p. 354.
_Balanus sublævis_, J. de C. Sowerby, in 'Geolog. Trans.,' 2d series,
vol. v, Pl. 25, fig. 3. Plate extremely imperfect; description
extremely short and useless; a species from India not to be
recognised.
_Balanus balanoides_; the species thus named by Ranzani, and found
by Philippi in Sicily, certainly is not the true _Lepas balanoides_
of Linn., but may be _B. amphitrite_ of this work. In British
collections of Crag specimens I have found the _B. dolosus_ (nov.
spec.) thus named: I much doubt whether the truly littoral _B.
balanoides_ of Linnæus has been found fossil.
_B. costatus_ of Montagu, a synonym of _B. sulcatus_ of Bruguière,
and of _B. porcatus_ of this work; found fossil and recent. This
species was originally described by Linnæus under the name of _Lepas
balanus_. But the fossil _Lepas balanus_ of Brocchi is a different
species; if it be the same with the recent _Lepas balanus_ of Poli,
then it is the _B. perforatus_ of the present work. Again, the _B.
sulcatus_ of Bronn, in his 'Lethæa Geognostica' (tab. 36, fig. 14),
is quite different from the _B. sulcatus_ of Bruguière (_i. e._,
_B. porcatus_ of the present work), as is at once obvious from the
oblique summits of the radii. Lastly, _B. tesselatus_ of Sowerby is a
synonym of _B. porcatus_, _sulcatus_, _costatus_, and _Lepas balanus_.
_B. punctatus_ of Montagu is a synonym of _Chthamalus stellatus_, see
remarks on that species: the name of _B. punctatus_ is often applied
by British authors to varieties of _B. balanoides_, see remarks on
that species.
_B. rugosus_ of Morris's 'Catalogue' is a synonym of _B. crenatus_;
found recent and fossil.
_B. sulcatus_ of Bruguière, a synonym of _B. porcatus_; found recent
and fossil: see remarks under _B. costatus_.
_B. tintinnabulum_ of Linn., found recent and fossil; but no trust
whatever ought to be placed in the identifications of this species
given in several works; thus the _Lepas tintinnabulum_ of Brocchi is
distinct. The _B. crassus_ of Sowerby is the true _B. tintinnabulum_.
The _B. fasciatus_ of Dujardin (perhaps only a MS. name) probably
is also this species. The _B. crispatus_ is only a variety of _B.
tintinnabulum_.
_B. dentiformis_, Defrance: see _B. circinnatus_.
_B. ornatus_, Münster, 'Beiträge zur Petrifact.,' B. 3, p. 29, tab.
vi (1840). No opercular valves or details of structure of the several
species of Balanus named by Münster, are given, and consequently none
can be recognised with certainty.
_B. concavus_ of Bronn, fully described in this work, with the
synonyms given; recent and fossil.
_B. crassus_ of Sowerby, a synonym for _B. tintinnabulum_.
_B. latiradiatus_, Münster, probably a synonym of _B. tintinnabulum_,
see remarks under _B. ornatus_.
_B. pectinarius_, Bronn ('Italiens Tertiär-Gebilde,' p. 128), does
not appear to me fully enough described to be recognised.
_B. pictus_ of Münster, possibly a synonym of _B. amphitrite_: see
remarks under _B. ornatus_ and _balanoides_.
_B. plicarius_, Bronn: see remarks under _B. pectinarius_.
_B. porosus_ of Hausman (according to Münster of Blumenbach). I
cannot recognise this species in Münster's 'Beiträge.'
_B. pustularis_ of Lamarck, 'Animaux sans Vertèbres.' Scarcely one
of the fossil species of Balanus, described by Lamarck, can be
recognised; the descriptions are extremely imperfect. There is a
figure of _B. pustularis_ in Münster's 'Beiträge,' which makes me
think that this may be a synonym of _B. concavus_ of Bronn.
_B. pyramidalis_, Münster: see remarks under _B. ornatus_.
_B. rhomboicus_, Bronn: see remarks under _B. plicarius_.
_B. squamosus_, Defrance: see remarks under _B. circinnatus_.
_B. stellaris_, Bronn ('Lethæa Geognostica,' tab. 36, fig. 13). To
this species, _Lepas stellaris_ (I presume a misprint for _stellata_)
of Poli, is given as a synonym; but the _Lepas stellata_ of Poli is a
Chthamalus, and this certainly is not the case with _B. stellaris_. I
have received two specimens from the Continent named _B. stellaris_,
but they certainly differed from the form so called by Bronn, for
in that, the parietes are said to be porose and the radii very
narrow: these foreign specimens I have named _B. inclusus_. A species
described by me as _B. corrugatus_, resembles in external appearance
the _B. stellaris_ of Bronn, but it is mere labour in vain to attempt
identifying Balani by their external characters.
_B. striatus_, Defrance: see remarks under _B. circinnatus_.
_B. tertiarius_, Risso, 'Hist. Nat. de l'Europe Merid.,' vol. iv. I
cannot recognise this species.
_B. tesselatus_, Sowerby, a synonym of _B. porcatus_; recent and
fossil: see remarks under _B. costatus_.
_B. zonarius_, Münster: see remarks under _B. ornatus_; possibly this
is a synonym of _B. concavus_.
_B. amphimorphus_, Lamarck: see remarks under _B. pustularis_.
_B. crispatus_, _var._ of _B. tintinnabulum_.
_B. cylindraceus_, Lamarck. From Chenu's 'Illust. Conch.,' in which
work Lamarck's original specimens are figured; it appears that this
is the _B. psittacus_ of South America, where it is also found
fossil, but assuredly Lamarck is quite in error when he states that
a variety of this species occurs fossil near Turin. Bronn (in his
'Italiens Tertiär-Gebilde,' p. 127) gives as a synonym to the Turin
fossil the _Lepas tintinnabulum_ of Brocchi (in the 'Conchologia
Fossile Subapennina,' t. 2, p. 597), and this probably is correct;
and I have hardly any doubt that the _Lepas tintinnabulum_ of Brocchi
is the _B. concavus_ of Bronn described in the present work.
_B. perforatus_ of Bruguière is said by Philippi to be found in
Sicily: see remarks under _B. tulipa_.
_B. semiplicatus_, Lamarck: see remarks under _B. pustularis_.
_B. tulipa_ of Müller is the _B. Hameri_ of this work, under which
name full information on its geological history has been given.
The _B. tulipa_ of Poli and Ranzani is the _B. tulipiformis_ of
the present work; and this latter species is said by Philippi to
occur fossil in Sicily. But there has been so much confusion in
the identification of _B. tulipiformis_, _B. Hameri_, and _B.
tintinnabulum_, and likewise of _B. perforatus_ (which by Poli was
wrongly considered to be _L. balanus_, Linn.), that doubts must be
entertained about which have been really found, until the Sicilian
fossils are all carefully examined.
_B. ovularis_, Lamarck: see remarks under _B. pustularis_.
_B. Uddevallensis_, Linnæus, is probably a synonym of the _B. Hameri_
of this work and the _B. tulipa_ of Müller.
[A few other references may be added to those given by Bronn.]
_B. miser_, stated by Lamarck to be found fossil: see remarks under
_B. pustularis_.
_B. patellaris_ of Lamarck, is stated by Marcel de Serres to be found
fossil with several other species of Balanus; thus named without any
description in the 'Annales des Scien. Phys. et Nat. de Lyon,' tom.
i, p. 417.
_B. virgatus_, _delphinus_, and _crispus_, are names given by
Defrance, with absolutely worthless descriptions.
_B. radiatus_ is too briefly described by Risso ('Hist. Nat. de
l'Europe Merid.,' tom. iv, 1826), without a figure, to be recognised;
it probably is not the _B. radiatus_ of Spengler, Wood, and other
authors.
_B. goissopomo_, _lævis_, and _radiatus_, are mere names without
any description, published in a Catalogue by F. Hoeninghaus, in the
'Jahrbuch für Mineral. Geog.,' &c., 1831, p. 155.
_B. humilis_. Conrad, in the 'American Journal of Science,' vol. ii
(N. S.), p. 400, 1846, has given a short description, with a woodcut,
of this species, from the upper Eocene of Florida. The opercular
valves are not described, and I doubt whether the species could be
recognised.