l62 



Bulletin 39 



334 



Gatun Stage: Coll. 5, Red Cliff Creek. 



Genus ASTRALiUM Link 

 Astraliym brevispinym Lamarck, var. basalis, n. var. Plate 15, figs. 4, 5 



The Astralium brevispimun lyamarck is a recent species 

 found living along the north coast of Panama and Costa Rica. 

 It is most easily distinguished from the West Indian A. longispi- 

 nu7n Lamarck by having its columellar area brilliantly stained 

 with scarlet. 



From upper Old Man Sam Creek in eastern Costa Rica, we 

 collected a single specimen of an Astralium, very similiar inmost 

 of its characters to brevispinum. It differs most importantly in 

 having a more strongly sculptured base. This sculpture consists 

 of a wide, flat band, inside of which are 3, heavy, nearly 

 equal spiral cords. The whole surface is crossed by squamose 

 lines of growth. 



Height 20, diameter 29.50 mm. 



Gatim Stage: Coll. 6, Old Man Sam Creek. 



Astralium caelatum Gmelin, variety 



Trochus ccelatiun GmeHn 1792, Syst. Nat., p. 3581. 



Astralium ccslatum Pilsbry, 1888, Manual of Conch., first ser., vol. lo, 

 p. 224, pi. 57, figs. 45, 46. 



A large Turboid shell related to the recent A. ccelatum Gme- 

 lin was collected from the coral limestones near Port Limon. It 

 is so firmly imbedded in its rocky matrix that only a small por- 

 tion of its surface is exposed to view. Its surface sculpture is like 

 that of ccslatum, but the radial costae on the upper part of its 

 whorl are closely spaced and not far apart as in the recent shell. 

 Its height measures 55 mm, diameter 54. 



Gatun Stage: Port Limon. 



