MALACOTECA Malacoteca of Species from the Tropical Ocean of Peru Authors: Manuel Gorriti Manchego y Víctor E. Falcón Huayta Introduction Gathering ambit Species collected Importance for precolonial Andean societies Acknowledgements The use of the ocean as a source of resources for subsistence has been considered by Andean peoples from time immemorial. In this framework, some marine species of fish, mammals, and mainly mollusks were appreciated,   not only for their flesh, but also for the raw material-vertebrae, canine teeth and shells-with which specialized craftsmen elaborated ornamental objects of a personal nature, and others which, because of their symbolism, were important in rituals and religion. This research is the recognition of such activities and its objective was to organize a malacoteca (collection of specimens of mollusks) of species from the tropical coast of Peru. This malacoteca will serve as the comparative base for the identification of prehispanic artifacts or ornaments elaborated with shell from some of these mollusks. The Peruvian coast is composed of two major malacological regions: the Panamanian Region and the Peruvian Region, whose spheres are defined by the marine currents that bathe its coast, the Tropical Ecuadorian Current and the Peruvian Current respectively. The sample we present below comes from the tropical part of the Peruvian coast, consequently, it includes shell fishing and fishing localities from the departments of Tumbes and Piura, to the Virrilá estuary (near the Illescas massif). This zone is also cyclically affected by the El Niño ocean current. A large part of these species have a direct relationship with remains from the archaeological sites, chiefly in the departments just mentioned, and in the case of the large ritual mollusks like the Spondylus princeps and the Strombus galeatus, the relationship is with archeological sites all over the country.