Roxania, Leach, 1847

Valdés, Ángel, 2008, Deep-sea “ cephalaspidean ” heterobranchs (Gastropoda) from the tropical southwest Pacific, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 587-792 : 693-694

Genus ROXANIA Leach, 1847

Roxania Leach, 1847: 268 . Type species: Bulla cranchii Leach in Fleming, 1828 [= Roxania utriculus Brocchi, 1814 ; Recent, British Isles], by monotypy.

Synonyms:

Abderospira Dall, 1896: 32 . Type species: Bullina (Abderospira) chipolana Dall, 1896 [Miocene, Florida], by original designation. Damoniella Iredale, 1918: 37-38 . [Replacement name for Roxania Leach in Gray, 1847].

DIAGNOSIS. — Shell morphology. Shell external, solid, oval, with only 1 whorl visible. Aperture longitudinal, as long as the shell, anteriorly rounded. Columella thickened, in some cases with a vestigial callus near the posterior end of the aperture. Operculum absent.

Anatomy. Large headshield, with a deep medial slit separating the shield into 2 posteriorly projecting lobes. Parapodia short, covering the laterals of the shell. Radula composed of denticulate rachidian teeth and a triangular lateral tooth on each side. Reproductive system unknown.

REMARKS. — Roxania was introduced by Leach (1847) for the single species Bulla cranchii Leach in Fleming, 1828. Subsequently Dall (1896) described the new genus Abderospira for a fossil species, Bullina (Abderospira) chipolana Dall, 1896 , from the Tertiary of Florida. The shell characteristics of Abderospira are very similar to those of Roxania and the names have been regarded as synonyms.

Iredale (1918) considered that Roxania was preoccupied by Roxana Stephens, 1834 (Lepidoptera) and introduced the replacement name Damoniella Iredale, 1918 . According to the Code (ICZN 1999: Article 56.2), even if the difference between two genus-group names is only one letter, they are not homonyms. Therefore Damoniella Iredale, 1918 is an unnecessary replacement name.