An Unusual Addition to the Muricidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of the Esmeraldas Beds, Northwestern Ecuador

Abstract

A visit to the British Museum (Natural History) by William and Lois Pitt, of Sacramento. California, for the purpose of examining the material in their collections from the Tertiary beds of coastal Ecuador. Disclosed is a most unusual addition to the muricid fauna of the Esmeralclas Beds, near Quebrada Camarones (locality TU 1397), which is on the northwestern coast about 10 km east of the mouth of the Rio Esmetaldas.   Having just published a study of the muricid fauna of this area (Vokes, 1988), wherein I noted that three of the 21 species of Muricidae occurring in these beds have a closer affinity to species living in northern California or Japan than to anything in the waters of tropical America, it is especially gratifying to recognize this new species as another relative of the Japanese fauna.