Iredalea is a small genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Drilliidae.
This genus was named in 1915 by Walter Oliver after Tom Iredale (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
Fossil species have been found in Pliocene strata of Italy and in Miocene strata of Indonesia; age range: 5.332 to 2.588 Ma.Fossilworks : IredaleaD. Scarponi and G. Della Bella. 2003. Molluschi marini del Plio-Pleistocene dell'Emilia-Romagna e della Toscana, Conoidea, Vol. 1 - Drilliidae e Turridae. Università di Bologna, Museo geologico Giovanni Capellini 1-89
Description The narrow, solid and turreted shell has a fusiform shape. The protoconch consists of 4 whorls, with a sinusigera apex. The shell is axially sculptured by numerous slender and continuous riblets. The aperture measures about a third of the length of the shell. The short siphonal canal is wide. The anal sinus is deep and broad, separated from the body whorl by a callosity. A brown band on the periphery is a usual feature.Hedley, Charles (1920), A revision of the Australian Turridae; Records of the Australian Museum, vol. XIII nr. 6, Sydney
Species Species within the genus Iredalea include: Iredalea adenensis Morassi & Bonfitto, 2013Morrassi, Mauro & Antonio Bonfitto. (2013). "Four new African turriform gastropods." Zootaxa 3710 (3): 271-280 Iredalea agatho (W.H. Dall, 1918) Iredalea balteata (A.A. Gould, 1860) Iredalea exilis (Pease, 1868) Iredalea inclinata (Sowerby III, 1893) Iredalea macleayi (Brazier, 1876) Iredalea pupoidea (H. Adams, 1872) Iredalea pygmaea (Dunker, 1860) Iredalea subtropicalis Oliver, 1915 Iredalea thalycra (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 (Brephodrillia) perfecta (Pilsbry & Lowe, 1932): synonym of Brephodrillia perfectus Pilsbry & Lowe, 1932
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