Farley Creek Muricids

The Florida Paleontological Society is having its fall meeting this weekend, and the field trip this time around is to Farley Creek. Since I can’t go to the meeting (horse racing trumps fossil collecting this month — the Breeder’s Cup is only 3 weeks away!), I decided I would make a rudimentary guide to the fossil muricids that have been documented from the beds along Farley Creek. This may help those attending the FPS meeting to better identify their finds.

Please note the following in regard to the specimens I selected to photograph:

• Most of them were not actually collected from Farley Creek. Sorry; I’m too lazy to sort through my collection that way at the last second. However, every single species figured in this post is either formally documented in the literature as being found along Farley Creek, or else I have in fact found at least a fragment of it there myself. It is entirely possible that you could collect something that has not yet been documented from Farley Creek, though it is known from elsewhere in the Chipola Formation. In that case, please refer to my Fossil Muricidae website for a complete list of species known from the Chipola Formation.
• I did not select the absolute best specimens in my collection to figure here. Again, I was too lazy to do so. However, if this is your first time collecting at Farley Creek, and you only spend a few hours there, chances are good that the majority of your specimens will still not be as well-preserved as those shown here — they will most likely be smaller, or more worn, or fragmentary in nature. I spent several years collecting in the Chipola Formation, and a number of the species figured here are very difficult to find in good condition. There are a few species of muricids that are endemic to the beds at Farley Creek, and I identify those below. Most are species that are very small to begin with, and your best chance of finding them is by slow, careful screenwashing.

Plate 1 (click to enlarge)

Plate 1 – from left to right:

• Chicoreus (Phyllonotus) infrequens (uncommon to rare here)
• Chicoreus (s.s.) dujardinoides (one of the more common muricids found here; specimen on left is from Farley Creek)
• Chicoreus (s.s.) elusivus (rare and fragmentary everywhere)

Plate 2 (click to enlarge)

Plate 2 – from left to right:

• Haustellum (Vokesimurex) gilli (uncommon here but usually well preserved)
• Chicoreus (Siratus) juliagardnerae (uncommon to rare here but usually well preserved)
• Chicoreus (Siratus) sextoni (rare here; documented from Farley Creek by Vokes)

Plate 3 (click to enlarge)

Plate 3 – from left to right:

• Poirieria (Panamurex) lychnia (rare here)
• Poirieria (Panamurex) fusinoides (rare here)
• Poirieria (Panamurex) laccapoia (rare here; distinguished by labral tooth)
• Poirieria (Panamurex) mauryae (uncommon to rare here)

Plate 4 (click to enlarge)

Plate 4 – from left to right:

• Pterynotus (s.s.) hoerlei (rare everywhere, usually fragmentary)
• Hexaplex veatchi (typical of the Farley Creek beds, but never truly common; specimen on the left was collected here)

Plate 5 (click to enlarge)

Plate 5 – from left to right:

• Attiliosa gretae (tiny species, rare everywhere in the formation)
• Dermomurex (Takia) vaughani (fairly difficult to find complete)
• Dermomurex (Trialatella) farleyensis (tiny species endemic to the Farley Creek beds)

Plate 6 (click to enlarge)

Plate 6 – from left to right:

• Murexiella (s.s.) parvula (tiny and rare species, primarily found along Farley Creek; specimen on the right was collected here)
• Murexsul? nanissimus (smallest species of all; common and typical of Farley Creek beds)
• Muricopsis (Risomurex) crassicosta (rare everywhere; originally described from the Miocene of France)
• Muricopsis (s.s.) shirleyae (rare and fragmentary here)

Plate 7 (click to enlarge)

Plate 7 – from left to right:

• Homalocantha calhounensis (rare everywhere and generally fragmentary)
• Ceratostoma virginiae (uncommon along Farley Creek)

Plate 8 (click to enlarge)

Plate 8 – from left to right:

• Typhis (Talityphis) obesus (uncommon; specimen on the left was collected at Farley)
• Typhis (Rugotyphis) keenae (uncommon)

Please note that Farley Creek is on posted land. If you ever collect there without explicit landowner permission, you are breaking the law!!! Don’t spoil things for other shell collectors; don’t go where you don’t belong!!!