Llfe«Afcf> 
NEW YOPk 
BOTANiC.v? 
SOME NEW SPECIES FROM THE PLIOCENE 
OF 
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 
WITH A FEW CHANGES IN NOMENCLATURE 
By 
CARLTON M. CARSON 
Stanford University 
Cantharus breaensis n. sp. 
Plate I. Fig. 2 
Shell thick, ventricose; spire moderately high with five rapidly 
enlarging whorls; whorls rounded and shouldered above; suture dis- 
tinct, forming a wavy collar on the whorl above; sculptured with 
numerous fine, square-topped, spiral, ribs; interspaces wide, carrying 
interoalaries, few above the shoulder but many below; axial sculpture 
consists only of numerous fine incremental lines; aperture ovate; 
pillar straight, carrying a single low, rounded, fold near the juncture 
of the outer lip and columella; outer lip rather thin, inside concealed, 
but another specimen shows it to be crenated within; canal open, re- 
curved; external siphonal fascicle partially broken, but was apparently 
heavy. Height of type 47 mm., diameter of type 31 mm., apical angle 
about 67°. 
Localities: — Mouth of Brea Canyon, Puente Hills, Los Angeles 
Co., Calif. Fernando Formation, lower Pliocene. Collected by C. M. 
Carson. Also from the Fernando Formation of the Camulos Sheet, 
Los Angeles Co., Calif. Collected by L. C. Decius. 
Common associates of this form at Brea Canyon are: Alectrion 
fossatus Gould, Alectrion moranianus. Martin, Area trilineata Conrad, 
Gardium quadri genarium Conrad, Fusinus harbarensis Trask, Ostrea 
veatchii Gabb, Pecten ashleyi Arnold, Pecten oiveni Arnold, Peeten 
etchegoini Anderson, and Turritella cooperi Carpenter. 
Cantharus ashleyi n. sp. 
Plate 1 Figs. 6 and 7 
Shell slender; spire high, with six rapidly enlarging whorls, body 
whorl rounded but not shouldered, earlier whorls vertical and dis- 
tinctly shouldered; suture distinct forming a wavy collar on the 
earlier whorl; sculpture consisting of numerous fine, rounded, spiral, 
ribs and narrow interspaces carrying, in some cases, fine intercal- 
aries; axial sculpture consists of small nodes on the earliest three 
whorls, 10 nodes to a whorl and a few incremental lines; aperture 
pyriform; pillar slightly curved and smooth carrying a single high 
rounded plait near junction of outer lip and columella; canal partly 
broken off, outer lip rather thin, inside crenated. Height of type 
51 mm., diameter of type 28 mm., apical angle 60°. 
Localities: — Near the San Fernando Tunnel. Los Angeles Co., 
Calif., Fernando Formation, lower Pliocene. Collected by G. H. Ash- 
ley. Another specimen from Gavin Canyon, Camulos Sheet, Los An- 
geles Co., Calif., collected by C. M. Carson, shows the canal to be 
open, slightly recurved and the external siphonal fascicle to be quite 
heavy. Height of paratype 54 mm., diameter of paratype about 31 
mm., apical angle 61°. 
31 
This species is named for G. H. Ashley, who collected the type 
specimen. 
Associates: — At the Gavin Canyon locality Alectrion m,oranianus 
Martin, Dosinia ponderosa Gray, Macoma nasuta Conrad, Ostrea 
veatchii Gabb, Turritella cooperi Carpenter and Pecten cerrosensis? 
Gabb are commonly found. 
Cantharus elsmerensis n. sp. 
Plate I Fig. 4 
Shell thin, spire rather low with five or six rapidly enlarging 
whorls, whorl rounded and angulate above; suture distinct, forming a 
wavy collar on the whorl above; sculptured with about thirty-six 
narrow, square-topped, spiral, riblets of which eleven are above the 
angle of the whorl; interspaces narrower than the riblets; toward the 
base of the body whorl a few intercalaries appear; axial sculpture 
consists of about ten small nodes on the upper two or three whorls, 
becoming obsolete on the later whorls; a few fine incremental lines 
are present; aperture pyriform; pillar somewhat curved carrying one 
narrow horizontal fold near the junction of the outer lip and pillar; 
outer lip internally crenated, canal short, open, slightly curved; ex- 
ternal siphonal fasciole almost lacking. Height of type 37 mm., di- 
ameter of type 23 mm., apical angle 72°. 
Localities: — Holser Canyon, branch of Piru Valley, Ventura Co., 
Calif. Fernando Formation, lower Pliocene. Collected by C. M. Car- 
son; Also from Elsmere Canyon near the forks, Ventura Co., Calif. 
Collected by R. B. Moran. This specimen minus the apex and part 
of the canal measures 46 mm. in length, and 33 mm. in diameter. 
Associated with this species at the Holser Canyon locality are 
Amiantis callosa Carpenter; Area cavuiloerisis Osmont, Chione fernan- 
doensis English, Ostrea veatchii Gabb, Pecten healeyi Arnold, Pecten 
oweni Arnold, Turritella cooperi Carpenter and Fusinus barbarensis 
Trask. 
Solenosteira angelensis n. sp. 
Plate I Figs. 3 and 5 
Shell thick, ventricose, spire low with three rapidly enlarging 
whorls and part of a fourth, apex broken; body whorl rounded and 
angulate above; suture distinct; sculpture consisting of 22 rounded, 
major, spiral, ribs with narrow interspaces usually carrying a thread- 
like intercalary; axial sculpture consists of nodes on the angle of the 
upper whorls, there being thirteen on the penultimate whorl, and none 
on the last whorl where they are obsolete; incremental lines arei 
visible on the last whorl; aperture narrow and elongate; outer lip 
thin, inside concealed, columella straight, smooth, callus thin, canal 
open, rather wide and slightly curved, external siphonal fasciole very 
feeble, umbilical pit very shallow or almost lacking. Height of type 
36 mm., diameter of type 23 mm., apical angle 72°. 
Locality: — Mouth of Brea Canyon, Puente Hills, Los Angeles Co., 
Calif. Fernando Formation, lower Pliocene. Collected by C. M. Car- 
son. One specimen. 
Associates: — Alectrion perpinguis Hinds, Area multicostata Sow- 
erby, Argohuccinum paeificum Dall, Bursa ealifornica Hinds, giant 
Conus, Pecten ashleyi Arnold, Pecten oweni Arnold, Pecten liastatus 
Sowerby, and Thraeia tra,pezoides Conrad are commonly found in the 
Fernando Formation of the Puente Hills. 
32 
Cantharus fortis, Carpenter 
Pisania fortis Carpenter.. Ann. and Mag Nat. Hist., 3rrl Ser 
Vol. 17, April 1866. pp. 277, Cooper, 7th Ann. Rept Cal. St. 
Min. 1888, p. 260. Arnold Mem. Cal. Acad. Sci. Vol. 3, pp. 227. 
"P. testa p. insigni simili, sed solidiore; crassissima, sculptura 
valde impressa; anfr. norm, v., parum rotundatis, suturis distinctis, 
costis radiantibus t. juniore circ. XII., obtusis, parum expressis, postea 
obsoletis; liris spiralibus validis, cebris (quarum t. juniore V., postea 
X., in spira monstrantur), subaequalibus, anticis majoribus; canali 
recurvata; lacuna unbilicali magna; labro intus crebrilirata; labio 
•conspicuo, spiraliter rugose lirato. 
Hab. — Santa Barbara, Pleistocene Formation. (Jewett.)" 
Cantharus fortis closely resembles the living C. elegans Gray, but 
differs from it in having finer and closer internal ribbing on the outer 
lip, in having a greater tendency to develop intercalaries on the sur- 
face, in being less nodose on the body whorl, and in having more, and 
more prominent plaits on the columella. 
Localities: — Santa Monica Canyon, Los Angeles Co., Calif., San 
Diego Formation, lower upper Pliocene. Collected by D. Arnold. 
Four miles west of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Co., Calif., Santa 
Barbara Formation, upper Pliocene; Timber Canyon, Santa Paula, 
Ventura Co., Calif., Ventura Formation, upper Pliocene, collected by 
C. A. Waring. San Pedro, Los Angeles Co., Calif., upper San Pedro 
Formation, upper Pleistocene. 
Close study of this species and of the genera Pisania and Cantharus 
has convinced the writer that Pisania fortis should be assigned to the 
genus Cantharus. 
Searlesia portolaensis Arnold. 
Fusus portolaensis Arnold. 
Proc. U. S. Nat. Mu.s. Vol. 34, pp. 345-390. PI. 37, Fig. S. 
"Description — Shell attaining a length of at least 60 mm., fusiform, 
moderately slender; apex acute, whorls 7 or more, very convex, 
slightly compressed above near suture; nuclear whorls unknown; the 
next four crossed by nine very broad, prominent, rounded varices ex- 
tending from lower suture to upper revolving sutural ridges ; inter- 
space between varices deep and V-shaped; about 8 sharply defined, 
rounded, revolving ribs (between each pair of which on the lower 
whorls is often a small intercalary) occur on each whorl in addition 
to the sutural rib which is more prominent than in the others; whole 
surface crossed by numerous small incremental lines; body whorl 
quite regularly convex, projected into a long, slightly outward-curving 
pillar, varices obsolete, or nearly so, on the body whorl, and also on 
the penultimate whorl on the larger specimens, as in F. barbarensis 
Trask; suture distinct, wavy. Aperture elongate-elliptical; outer lip 
internally striate, inner lip smooth, gently concave; canal rather long, 
narrow, curved outward toward anterior extremity. 
Dimensions — Length, 62 mm., latitude, 31 mm., longitude of body 
whorl, 44 mm., longitude aperture and canal, 34 mm., apical angle 
about 49°.'" 
Horizon — Purisima formation and Fernando formation, lower Plio- 
cene. 
"Localities — Santa Cruz quadrangle, San Mateo County, locality 
No. 6, on Sausal Creek, one-half mile southwest of Portola, also occurs 
at about the same horizon at several localities in eastern Monterey 
County and western Fresno County, type locality, U. S. G. S. No. 4665, 
Etchegoin (upper Miocene or lower Pliocene) formation. White Creek, 
19 miles northwest of Coalinga, Fresno County." 
33 
Also from Fugler's Point, Asphalt Mine, Santa Maria, Santa Bar- 
bara Co., Calif. Fernando Formation, lower Pliocene. Collected by 
J. O. Lewis. 
Careful comparison with the living Searlesia clira Reeve shows 
this species to be of the same genus but different specifically. S. por- 
tolaensis differs from S. clira in attaining somewhat greater size, in 
being more nodose, in being slightly more ventricose, and in having 
a much larger apical angle (47° as against 38°). S. portolaensis re- 
sembles Eellettia kelletii Forbes, but is more slender, has a shorter 
canal, is smaller, and is much less nodose on the last whorl. Speci- 
mens of S. portolaensis Arnold from the Fugler's Point locality differ 
from those from the Purisima Formation in being somewhat nodose 
on the penultimate and body whorls, but the difference was not con- 
sidered specific. 
Cantharus arnoldi Rivers. 
Plate I Fig. 1 
Chrysodomus arnoldi Rivers. 
Bull. So. Calif. Acad. Sci. Vol. 3, No. 5. 1904. Pg. 70. 
Chrysodomus arnoldi Rivers, Arnold. 
Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. 32, PI. 50, Fig. 10. 
Chrysodomus arnoldi Rivers, Arnold. U. S. 
G. S. Bull. 309, PI. 40, Fig. 10. 
"Shell thick, robust, chalk white; elegantly fusiform; spire about 
one-fifth of the whole; spire compressed; whorls about five; nucleus 
and following whorl missing; the third and fourth whorls arei sculp- 
tured with rather wide transverse ridges; but on the fifth whorl the 
ridges are nearly obsolete; sutures roughly encrusted; body whorl 
strongly shouldered, but not tabled; the sculpture consists of fine re- 
volving flattened striae or ridges crossed at intervals by strong incre- 
mental lines which perhaps in an unworn example might show varices; 
in the fossil there appears faintly a cancellate pattern; all the whorls 
bear an alternate series of fine revolving ridges which on the body 
whorl gages two to a mm.; columella medium, twisted; channel open 
but shallow; incrusted thickly interiorly; aperture pyriform; unbilicus 
subperforate as in Pisania fortis Carp. 
Dimensions: Long. 40 mm., Lat. 29 mm. 
Geological formation. Pliocene. One specimen. 
Locality: Crawfish George's; San Pedro, Calif." 
This species was described but not figured by Prof. J. J. Rivers, 
it was recognized and figured unaccompanied by the original descrip- 
tion by R. Arnold and is now being refigured with the original descrip- 
tion. Comparison of this species with the genus Cantharus shows it to 
be a Cantharus. It has the fold on the columella usually found in 
Cantharus. 
Localities: — Elsmere Canyon, Los Angeles Co., Calif. Fernando 
Formation, lower Pliocene. Holser Canyon near Piru Valley, Ventura 
Co., Calif., Fernando Formation, lower Pliocene. Collected by C. M. 
Carson. 
Cantharus angulatus Arnold. 
Pisania fortis var. angulata Arnold. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.' 
Vol. 32, 1907. pp. 536. PI. L. figs. 6 and 7. 
"Description — Shell fusiform, short; spire elevated; apex subacute 
to subangular, whorls angular, about three-fourths of the whorl being 
below the angle; body whorl below the angle quite uniformly convex. 
The surface sculpture varies considerably in individual specimens; in 
the type the sculpture of the body whorl consists of ten equal sub- 
equidistant rounded subrugose spiral ridges, each interspace being 
34 
ornamented by one less prominent but slightly more rugose revolving 
line on each side of which still finer lines may often be distinguished; 
above the angle are five revolving lines, less prominent than those 
on the lower part of the whorl, but alternating in relative size in the 
same manner as the latter. The penultimate and earlier whorls have 
about eleven longitudinal waves or low ribs which become most prom- 
inent on the angle of the whorls, forming more or less prominent 
nodes. A prominent sutural riblet is developed on the posterior por- 
tion of the whorl. Suture wavy, appressed, distinct. Aperture pyri- 
form; outer lip unknown but probably denticulate. Unbilicus sub- 
perforate. 
Dimensions: — Longitude (restored), about 55 mm., latitude, 29 
mm., body whorl, 43 mm., aperture, 30 mm., deflection, about 62°. 
Notes: — This variety differs from the typical Pisania fortis Car- 
penter, in being broader and in having prominently angulated whorls. 
The revolving lines in the former are also usually weaker than in 
the typical form." 
"Locality — Blsmere Canyon near Union Oil Company's wells, 2% 
miles southeast of Newhall, Los Angeles County, Calif." Collected by 
Ralph Arnold. 
"Horizon — Middle Fernando Formation (lower Pliocene). Known 
only from the type locality where several specimens were found." 
Examination of specimens of this form shows the inside of the 
outer lip to be crenated as Arnold suggested, and also revealed sev- 
eral low folds on the anterior portion of the columella and also a 
stronger fold on the columella near its junction with the outer lip, 
as in Cantliarus. This form differs from Cantharus fortis Carpenter, in 
being more ventricose, less nodose, in having the major spiral ribs 
closer together, and in having the intercalaries much finer. For these 
reasons it has been raised to specific rank and assigned to the genus 
Cantharus. Arnold's varietal name being retained. 
Locality — Calabasas Region, Los Angeles Co., Calif., Fernando 
Formation, lower Pliocene. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 
(All figures approximately natural size). 
Pg. 
Fig. 1. Cantharus arnoldi Rivers. 34 
Fig. 2. Cantharus breaensis n. sp 31 
Fig. 3. Solenosteira angelensis n. sp 32 
Fig. 4. Cantharus elsmerensis n. sp 32 
Fig. 5. Solenosteira angelensis n. sp 32 
Fig. 6. Cantharus ashleyi n. sp 31 
Fig. 7. Cantharus ashleyi n. sp 31 
Photographs by Crandall of Palo Alto 
35