Mitridae Swainson, 1831

Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard, 2021, The Mitridae (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda) of the Miocene Paratethys Sea, Zootaxa 4983 (3), pp. 1-72 : 7

Family Mitridae Swainson, 1831

Discussion. The molecular phylogeny of Fedosov et al. (2018) has important implications for the taxonomy of European Mitridae . As in Landau et al. (2019), Fedosov et al.’s generic descriptions and concepts are followed herein.

Key to Mitridae genera in the Paratethys*

1. Shell fusiform to elongate fusiform....................................................................... 2 Shell squat, ovate, last whorl rounded...................................................... Wormsina nov. gen. Shell broad fusiform, last whorl shouldered................................................. Fraudiziba nov. gen.

2. Spiral sculpture covers entire shell, or almost so............................................................. 3 Spiral sculpture restricted to early whorls and base........................................ Episcomitra and Isara **

3. Spiral and axial sculpture............................................................................... 4 Spiral sculpture only................................................................................... 5

4. Relatively strong cancellate sculpture on early spire whorls............................................ Calcimitra Weak cancellate sculpture on earliest spire whorls......................................... Cancilla (some species)

5. Elongate fusiform, relatively tall spire, prominent basal concavity....................................... Domiporta Fusiform , gradate spire, thickened outer lip, strongly twisted fasciole..................................... Nebularia Elongate fusiform, high aperture, long siphonal canal, hardly constricted at base............................ .. Cancilla

* Protoconch type is genus specific, but is not used in the key as the protoconch is usually not preserved. However, we recognize three categories: paucispiral protoconch ( Episcomitra , Fraudiziba ), multispiral ( Calcimitra , Domiporta , Nebularia , Cancilla ), and variable or unknown ( Isara , Wormsina ).

** Episcomitra and Isara cannot be separated based on shell characters (see generic discussions).