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 Isara hoernesi ( Mayer, 1864 ) ? Mitra aperta Bell. —Hörnes 1852b: 97, pl. 10, figs. 1–3 [ non Mitra aperta Bellardi, 1850 ]. Mitra aperta Bellardi —Bronn in Reiss 1862: 25 . * Mitra Hoernesi Mayer 1864: 82 [ nov. nom for Mitra aperta Ho ̈rnes 1852b non Bellardi, 1850 ]. Mitra fusiformis Brocc. —Hoernes & Auinger 1880: 75, pl. 8, fig. 26 [ non Episcomitra fusiformis ( Brocchi, 1814 ) ]. Mitra multistriata Mayer-Eymar — Mayer-Eymar 1891: 339 , pl. 10, fig. 7 [ non Bellardi, 1887]. Mitra ambigua var. Hoernesi Mayer — Friedberg 1911: 13 , text-fig. 3. Mitra ambigua hörnesi Mayer— Csepreghy-Meznerics 1954: 48 , pl. 6, fig. 18. ? Mitra fusiformis Br. — Strausz 1954: 75 , pl. 4, fig. 83 [ non Brocchi, 1814 ]. Mitra aperta Bellardi — Pavlovsky 1957: 53 , pl. 1, figs. 10a–b. Mitra ( Mitraria ) friedbergi var. hoernesi ( Mayer, 1864 ) —Kojumdgieva in Kojumdgieva & Strachimirov 1960: 159 , pl. 42, fig. 6. ? Mitra hoernesi Mayer, 1864 — Strausz 1966: 362 , pl. 41, figs. 15–18. Mitra ( Mitra ) multistriata Mayer-Eymar — Cernohorsky 1976: 377 , pl. 323G, fig. 6 [ non Bellardi, 1887]. Mitraria ( Mitraria ) friedbergi (Cossmann, 1912) — Popa et al . 2014: 15 , pl. 4, fig. 6 [ non Cossmann, 1912]. Isara hoernesi ( Mayer, 1864 ) — Harzhauser & Landau 2021: 44 , Figs. 12A1–A2, B1–B2, C1–C2, D1–D2, E1–E2, F1–F2, G1–G2, H1–H2. non Mitra ( Mitraria ) friedbergi hoernesi Mayer —Kókay 1966: 62, pl. 9, fig. 7 [= Fraudiziba mathiasi ( Bałuk, 1997 ) ]. Type material. Two specimens, dimension not stated, Pinheiros , Santa Maria Island , Azores , Touril Complex , Lower Pliocene : whereabouts unknown ( Beu 2017:165 ) . Original description. “ Die vordre Hälfte einer Schaale aus anderthalb Windungen bestehend stimmt ganz mit der genannten miocänen Art, aber auch mit der im Mittelmeere lebenden M. cornea Lmk. ̧berein, nur dass sie etwas gedrungener oder im Verhältniss zur Länge etwas dicker zu seyn scheint. Diese geringe Abweichung in Verbindung mit der Unvollständigkeit des Exemplars hindert uns an fester Bestimmung der Art. (Findet sich anderwärts im Mayencien, im Astésien, und im Helvétien zu Wien .) [The front half of a shell consisting of one and a half whorls corresponds entirely to the Miocene species mentioned, but also to the M. cornea Lmk. living in the Mediterranean, except that it seems to be somewhat stockier or somewhat thicker in relation to its length. This slight deviation in connection with the incompleteness of the specimen prevents us from firmly determining the species. (Found elsewhere in the Mayencian, in Astésian, and in the Helvétian of Vienna .]” (Bronn in Reiss, 1862: 25 ). Discussion. Bronn in Reiss (1862: 25) recorded M. aperta Bellardi, 1850 , from Santa Maria without illustrating it. Mayer (1864: 82) considered the Santa Maria specimen conspecific with M. aperta in Ĥrnes (1852b: 97, pl. 10, figs. 1–3 [ non Mitra aperta Bellardi, 1850 ]) from the Middle Miocene Badanian Paratethys of Austria . The Paratethyan species was recently revised and illustrated by Harzhauser & Landau (2021: 44) . Those authors again stressed that it was impossible to separate Episcomitra and Isara based on conchological features alone, following the molecular phylogeny of Fedosov et al . (2018) , and chose to place this species in Isara as it is morphologically closely similar to the present-day Isara cornea ( Lamarck, 1811 ) . Whether the Azorean specimens are conspecific or not with those from the Paratethys, is impossible to evaluate as the Santa Maria shells were never figured and presumed lost. No further specimen attributable to the species have been found. Distribution. Middle Miocene: Paratethys. Ukraine ( Friedberg 1911 ), Austria (Ĥrnes 1852b; Harzhausen & Landau 2021 ), Czech Republic , Croatia ( Pavlovsky 1957 ), Hungary ( Csepreghy-Meznerics 1954 ), Romania (Hoernes & Auinger 1880; Popa et al . 2014 ), Bulgaria (Kojumdgieva in Kojumdgieva & Strachimirov 1960 ).?Lower Pliocene: Atlantic, Santa Maria Island, Azores (Bronn in Reiss 1862 ; Mayer, 1864 ).