Melanella

Melanella
Melanella candida
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Littorinimorpha
Family:	Eulimidae
Genus:	Melanella Bowdich, 1822
Species
See List of synonyms of Melanella
Synonyms
Balcis Leach, 1847 Balcis (Balcis) Leach, 1847 junior subjective synonym Euliamaustra Laseron, 1955 Eulima (Balcis) Eulimaustra Laseron, 1955 Melanella (Balcis) Leach, 1847 Melanella (Melanella) Bowdich, 1822

Melanella is a genus of very small ectoparasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs or micromolluscs in the family Eulimidae.

General characteristics

The shell is ovoid, with a distinctly elevated spire. The aperture is large, with its base somewhat produced and broadly rounded. The operculum is paucispiral, with a subspiral nucleus.

The genus comprises white, polished shells with a produced body whorl and an inner lip appressed to the attenuated base throughout its entire length, or at least along most of it. The shells may be either straight or flexed.

Melanella species are mostly ecto- and endoparasites on sea cucumbers and starfish. They can be host-specific or generalist.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Melanella:

The Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database also includes the following species with names in current use

Synonyms

See List of synonyms of Melanella

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melanella.

• Leach, 1847 [in Gray] Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 20: 271; Placed on the Official List by Opinion 1739, 1993, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 50(3): 242
• Warén, A. (1984). "A generic revision of the family Eulimidae (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia)". Journal of Molluscan Studies. suppl. 13: 56.
• Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213

External links

• Bowdich, T.E. 1822. Elements of Conchology, including the fossil genera and animals. Part 1. Univalves. Paris : Smith pp. i–xi, 14–73, index 1–3, 19 pls, 2 tables
• Gray, J. E. (1847). A list of the genera of recent Mollusca, their synonyma and types. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. (1847) 15: 129-219
• Laseron, C. 1955. Revision of the New South Wales eulimoid shells. The Australian Zoologist 12(2): 83–107, pls 1–3, figs 1–78 [85–86, 101] [Euliamaustra is an alternative original spelling (p. 85); spelling Eulimaustra selected by First Reviser action by McMichael & Whitley, 1961, The Marine Zoologist, 1(8): 124]
• Serge GOFAS, Ángel A. LUQUE, Joan Daniel OLIVER, José TEMPLADO & Alberto SERRA (2021) - The Mollusca of Galicia Bank (NE Atlantic Ocean); European Journal of Taxonomy 785: 1–114
• Souza, L. S.; Pimenta, A. D.; Barros, J. C. N. (2021). "Revision of the bathyal Eulimidae (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda) from off Northeast Brazil". Zootaxa. 4927 (4): 478–479. Retrieved 9 August 2026.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• >Heppell, D. (1995). "The identity of Melanella dufresnii Bowdich, 1822 and other species of Eulimidae (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia) described earlier". Journal of Conchology. 35 (3): 211–212. Retrieved 13 September 2026. This article incorporates text from this source, which is under a CC BY 4.0 license.