(Figures 15–16)
Fusus dilectus A. Adams, 1856: 221, 222; Hadorn & Rogers, 2000: 16 (lectotype 76.9 mm, BMNH 19682; 2 paralectotypes 72.6 & 65.5 mm, BMNH 19682).
Fusus tenuiliratus Dunker, 1867: 98, 99, pl. 33, figs. 1, 2; Hadorn & Rogers, 2000: 16, 40, figs. 48, 49 (holotype 69.3 mm figured, at ZMB).
Fusinus marensis Weisbord, 1962: 353, pl. 32, figs. 11, 12 (fossil, Venezuela); Kaicher, 1978: card 1851 (Recent, Venezuela); K. & L. Sunderland, 1995b: 16, figs (Venezuela).
Fusinus couei: Princz, 1973: 188, 189, 212 (Venezuela); non F. couei (Petit de la Saussaye, 1853), Recent, western Gulf of Mexico, fide Macsotay & Campos Villarroel (2001: 93).
Fusinus helenae: Princz, 1982: 123 (Venezuela); Díaz & Puyana, 1994: 197, pl. 61, fig. 763 (Colombia, 15–50 m); non F. helenae Bartsch, 1939, Recent, Gulf of Mexico, fide Daccarett & Bossio, (2011: 100).
Fusinus dilectus: Kaicher, 1986: card 1851/4729; Hadorn & Rogers, 2000: 16, 17, pl. 5, figs. 46-53 (Colombia, Venezuela and Suriname; figs. 46, 47 of lectotype); Snyder, 2003: 84 (Colombia to Suriname); Mallard & Robin, 2005: 11, pl. 21 (Colombia to Suriname); Massemin et al., 2009: 156, 157, figs. (occurrence probable in Guyane; shell from Colombia figured); Landau & Marques da Silva, 2010: 80; Daccarett & Bossio, 2011: 100, 259, fig. 498; Mallard & Robin, 2017: 38, figs. 1–3.
Fusinus (Fusinus) marensis: Macsotay & Campos Villarroel, 2001: 93, 94, pl. 2, figs. 7, 8 (Venezuela).
Types. Fusus dilectus: Lectotype 76.9 mm, BMNH 19682, designated by Hadorn and Rogers (2000: 16, 40, pl. 5, figs. 46, 47), also figured by Kaicher (1986: card 1851/4729); 2 paralectotypes, 72.6 & 65.5 mm, BMNH 19682; Fusus tenuiliratus: Holotype 69.3 mm, ZMB, figured by Hadorn and Rogers (2000: 40, pl. 5, figs. 48, 49; Fusinus marensis: Holotype 50.0 mm, Lower Mare Formation, Quebrada Mare, Venezuela, Pleistocene, PRI 26262 (Weisbord 1962: 363, pl. 32, figs. 11, 12), also figured by Hadorn and Rogers (2000: 40, pl. 5, figs. 50, 51); paratype 79.3 mm, same locality as holotype (Weisbord 1962: 363).
Material examined. Suriname —2-dd, 63.9 and 77.0 mm, off Paramaribo, 175–180 fm (= 320–330 m [!]), R/ V Oregon, 8/1958, RC. Venezuela and Colombia — 29 specimens, lv/dd. 50.0– 148.2 mm, Caribbean coasts of Colombia and Venezuela, ANSP; 43 specimens, lv/dd, 44.7–145.6 mm, Caribbean coasts of Colombia and Venezuela, 15–100 m, LC.
Remarks. This species has received several names, the most recent being Fusinus marensis Weisbord, 1962, introduced for a Pleistocene fossil from Venezuela. That name was also used for living specimens from Venezuela and Colombia until Kaicher (1986) pointed out that F. dilectus (Adams, 1856) has precedence. Princz (1973; 1982) also erroneously reported specimens as Fusinus couei (Petit de la Saussaye, 1853) and F. helenae Bartsch, 1939.
Fusinus dilectus is common in Caribbean waters of Colombia and Venezuela but its presence in the Guianas is problematic. Massemin et al. (2009) treated the species as “presence probable” in Guyane, citing a range of “Amerique Centrale et nord de l’Amerique du Sud (Colombie et Venezuela) et Plateau des Guyanes (Surinam),” evidently based on the range “ Colombia to Surinam, offshore” given by Hadorn and Rogers (2000), who reported eight specimens taken off Paramaribo. Two of those specimens, originally in Oregon material and now in the Rogers collection, are cited above, but the capture depth (175–180 fm) on their vendor’s label is far greater than any other reported for the species. The R/V Oregon worked off Suriname during August and September 1958, but most of its station depths were less than 50 fm (91 m) and none were as deep as 175–180 fm (Bullis & Thompson 1965: 72, 73), so validity of the record by Hadorn and Rogers may be in doubt. The Suriname locality was repeated by Snyder (2003), Mallard and Robin (2005) and Landau and Marques da Silva (2010), apparently following Hadorn and Rogers. Otherwise, however, the species has not been reported from the Guianas or Brazil, so we consider its presence off Surinam uncertain. A distributional map by Mallard and Robin (2017: 38) depicts the species ranging southwestward to about Pará, Brazil, but we know of no Brazilian records.