''Iredalea'' is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

s, marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Drilliidae The Drilliidae are a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small predatory sea snails with high-spired shells. They are classified as marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. This family has no s ...

. This genus was named in 1915 by Walter Oliver after

Tom Iredale Tom Iredale (24 March 1880 – 12 April 1972) was an English-born ornithologist and malacologist who had a long association with Australia, where he lived for most of his life. He was an Autodidacticism, autodidact who never went to university ...

(1880–1972), an English-born naturalist who lived mainly in Australia.Oliver, W.R.B. (1915) The Mollusca of the Kermadec Islands. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 47, 509–568, pls. 9–12
/ref> Fossil species have been found in

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and in

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

strata of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

; age range: 5.332 to 2.588 Ma.

Description

The narrow, solid and turreted shell has a fusiform shape. The

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...

consists of 4

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

s, with a sinusigera apex. The shell is axially sculptured by numerous slender and continuous riblets. The

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

measures about a third of the length of the shell. The short

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

is wide. The anal sinus is deep and broad, separated from the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

by a callosity. A brown band on the periphery is a usual feature.

Species

Species within the genus ''Iredalea'' include: * '' Iredalea adenensis'' Morassi & Bonfitto, 2013 * '' Iredalea agatha'' (W.H. Dall, 1918) * '' Iredalea balteata'' (A.A. Gould, 1860) * '' Iredalea inclinata'' (Sowerby III, 1893) * '' Iredalea macleayi'' (Brazier, 1876) * '' Iredalea pupoidea'' (H. Adams, 1872) * '' Iredalea subtropicalis'' Oliver, 1915 * ''

Iredalea thalycra ''Iredalea thalycra'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Drilliidae. Description The length of the shell attains 6 mm, its diameter 1.75 mm. A small brightly banded shell. Its colour is white, banded ...

'' (J.C. Melvill & R. Standen, 1896) * '' Iredalea theoteles'' (Melvill & Standen, 1896) ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Iredalea acuminata'' (J.W. Mighels, 1848): synonym of '' Pyrgocythara mighelsi'' (Kay, 1979) * ''Iredalea ella'' (Pilsbry & Lowe, 1932): synonym of '' Brephodrillia ella'' Pilsbry & Lowe, 1932 * ''Iredalea exilis'' (Pease, 1860): synonym of '' Paramontana exilis'' (Pease, 1860) * ''Iredalea (Brephodrillia) perfecta'' (Pilsbry & Lowe, 1932): synonym of '' Brephodrillia perfectus'' Pilsbry & Lowe, 1932 * ''Iredalea pygmaea'' (Dunker, 1860): synonym of '' Haedropleura pygmaea'' (Dunker, 1860)

References

* Vaught, K.C. (1989). ''A classification of the living Mollusca''. American Malacologists: Melbourne, FL (USA). . XII, 195 pp. * Bouchet P., Kantor Yu.I., Sysoev A. & Puillandre N. (2011) ''A new operational classification of the Conoidea''. Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 273-308

External links

Oliver W.R.B. (1915) ''The Mollusca of the Kermadec Islands''. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, 47, 509–568, pls. 9–12

Biodiversity Library: ''Iredalea''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3169527 Gastropod genera