Iphitus escondida n. sp. TYPE MATERIAL Holotype: Height 3.6 mm; width 2.9 mm. Philippines. Mactan Island. Punta Engaño. Amisa. 70 m deep. Coll. MNHN, Paris. Paratype 1: Height 3.5 mm; width 2.9 mm. Coll. Guido T. Poppe, nr. 976519. TYPE LOCALITY Philippines. Mactan Island. Punta Engaño. Amisa. 70 m deep.
HABITAT AND RANGE Collected on a fine gravel bottom mixed with sandy mud at a depth of 70 meters. Only known from the type locality. DESCRIPTION Shell Littorinid in shape, with round whorls, thin shelled but with a solid construction due to the sculpture, slightly higher than broad, the total shell height not exceeding 3.6 mm. The protoconch is tilted, the tip is broken off but 3 whorls remain, covered with densely set axial ribs. The protoconch is oblique and looks as sunken into the teleoconch whorls. On closer observation however one can see clearly the change between protoconch and teleoconch. This teleoconch has only 3 ½ whorls, rapidly increasing in size, the last one being gigantic, covering well over half of the total shell height. The sculpture is complicate: the shell is completely covered with strong spiral ribs, both primary and secondary ribs, the latter being slightly weaker ribs. The suture is deeply incised and well visible. There are about 12 primary and 5 secondary spiral ribs on the body whorl. These spiral ribs are linked together and reinforced by many hundreds of small axial ribs. These axial ribs are set vertical on the first whorls but slightly oblique on the body whorl. The umbilicus is wide and deep. The aperture is simple and round. Inside one can see that the outer sculpture shines through. The overall coloration is white, including the protoconch whorls. There is no pattern. ETYMOLOGY "Escondida" from the Latin "hidden". This cute Iphitus remained hidden to the eye of humanity until recently, despite intensive exploration of the area for many years.

COMPARISON AND REMARKS Iphitus escondida n. sp. has a unique shell in the family. The round whorls distinguish this species at once from species such as I. robertsi or I. boucheti n. sp. We can compare it with some other species that also have rounded and convex whorls:
- Iphitus neozelanicus (Dell, 1956) From New Zealand. Of about the same size can be differentiated by the much more straight, less convex, whorls and the aperture, which is like folded below the body whorl.
- Iphitus tuberatus Jeffreys, 1883 From Europe. This species can be differentiated at once by the triangular outline, top shell in shape, while the I. escondida n. sp. is littorinid in shape. The spire is much more pronounced in I. tuberatus. The sculpture in this species is also very different, with on the upper whorls knobs on pronounced spiral ridges.
- Iphitus tenuisculptus (Seguenza, 1876) From offshore Portugal and the Strait of Gibraltar. This species is slightly bigger than I. escondida n. sp. The suture in this species is much more pronounced and bordered by a wide subsutural channel.