The Lower Pliocene marine gastropods of Santa Maria Island, Azores: Taxonomy and palaeobiogeographic implications Author Sacchetti, Claudia 0000-0002-3225-3139 claudiasacc@icloud.com Author Landau, Bernard 0000-0002-7768-8494 bernardmlandau@gmail.com Author Ávila, Sérgio P. 0000-0002-3225-3139 claudiasacc@icloud.com text Zootaxa 2023 2023-05-24 5295 1 1 150 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5295.1.1 journal article 53396 10.11646/zootaxa.5295.1.1 82286fdc-a858-447c-9980-da2e8985d19c 1175-5326 7965273 F3A52660-70B8-439F-A7A0-F45ADC975EA5 Purpura haemastoma Linné — Mayer 1864: 74 . Discussion. Mayer (1864: 74) recorded one specimen with certainty from Feteirinhas (= Ponta das Salinas ) and a second doubtful specimen from Pinheiros. Stramonita haemastoma Linnaeus, 1767 is reported from the Pleistocene outcrops in Santa Maria Island, found in small numbers, in Prainha, Praia , Lagoinhas and the Vinha Velha deposits (Ávila, 2005; Ávila et al ., 2002 , 2009a , 2009b ; 2015). In the DBUA-F collection, we also examined specimens that were supposedly from Lower Pliocene outcrops from Santa Maria. On detailed examination of the shell preservation and the lack of matrix within the aperture of any of the specimens, from supposedly Pliocene strata, we could not convince ourselves that any of these specimens were truly Pliocene. Stramonita haemastoma lives in intertidal habitats, and shells found close to the Pliocene strata were probably transported by storms or birds. Therefore, this species is excluded from the Pliocene assemblages of Santa Maria pending further finds.