The Pliocene Gastropoda (Mollusca) of Estepona, southern Spain. Part 20: Columbellidae (Buccinoidea)

In this paper we review the Columbellidae of the Lower Piacenzian, Upper Pliocene of Estepona, southern Spain. Twenty species are recorded within six genera, of which four are described as new: Costoanachis malaquiasi nov. sp., Mitrella avilai nov. sp., Mitrella pagodiformis nov. sp. and Mitrella velerinensis nov. sp. Relationships at generic level are difficult to interpret at present due to the polyphyletic nature of genera such as Mitrella. At species level the assemblage is closely related to that seen in the rest of the Pliocene Mediterranean. The group is relatively thermophilic, with columbellid diversity drastically reduced in the cooler subtropical Pliocene French-Iberian province to the North, and although columbellid diversity in the present-day subtropical Mediterranean-Moroccan biogeographical province is relatively high, only 4 (20%) of the species found in Estepona survive there today.