Crepidula badisparsa sp. nov. (Gastropoda: Calyptraeidae) from Bocas Del Toro Province, Panama

—The taxonomy of calyptraeid gastropods is made difficult by their morphologically simple, plastic shells and the numerous instances of morphological convergence within the family. The small speckled species of Crepidula from the West Atlantic have all previously been referred to as C. convexa Say, 1822. Recent developmental and genetic work has shown that there are two species along the coast of North America, C. convexa and C. ustulatulina, and that there are at least two other species in the southern Caribbean. Here I describe, Crepidula badisparsa sp. nov., the small speckled species from the Caribbean coast of Panama and augment the original description of C. navicula from Venezeula and the Lesser Antillies. These species are easily distinguished from the more northern C. convexa and C. ustulatulina by the absence of the right muscle scar, and from each other by genetic, conchological, and anatomical characters.