A diverse palynomorph assemblage of trilete spores, tetrads, acritarchs, chitinozoans, scolecodonts, and fragments of arthropods, ?hydrozoans, ?graptolites, and possibly nematophytalean and vascular plants occurs 20 m above the base of member B of the Read Bay Formation at the type section on eastern Cornwallis Island, District of Franklin. This assemblage, here described briefly, is late Ludlow according to faunas above and below. The palynomorphs, other fossils, and stratigraphic framework indicate that the shales of member B were deposited in a sheltered near-shore marine environment. One new species of trilete spores, Retusotriletes chartulatus McGregor, is erected.