Genus Acteocina Gray, 1847

Type species. Acteon wetherellii Lea, 1833; original designation by Gray (1847: 160). Miocene, New Jersey, USA.

Discussion. Acteocina Gray, 1847 is a junior synonym of Alicula Eichwald 1830 [type species Alicula okenii Eichwald, 1830; subsequent designation by Glibert (1952a: 395), Middle Miocene, Ukraine]. Since Acteocina is a widely used name and Alicula is rarely used, Guzhov (2022b: 1237) proposed to treat Alicula Eichwald, 1830 as nomen oblitum following ICZN Art. 23.9.2 and Acteocina Gray, 1847 as a nomen protectum. However, Alicula was used as subgenus of Retusa by Glibert (1952: 395). Later, Aristov & Storozhenko (2011: 112) treated Alicula Schlechtendal, 1913 [Grylloblattida] as a junior homonym of Alicula Eichwald, 1830. As a result, Alicula Eichwald cannot be rejected without an application to the ICZN. We have not done this yet. For the sake of stability, however, we prefer to use Acteocina herein but emphasize that the problem must be solved formally by the ICZN.

Acteocina was represented in the Karpatian and Badenian of the Central Paratethys by few morphologically ‘stable’ species. During the early Sarmatian (Volhynian) and middle Sarmatian (Bessarabian), the genus underwent a radiation and displayed a high morphological disparity. This phase peaked during the Late Miocene Bessarabian in the Eastern Paratethys. These taxa are not included in our revision, which focuses on the Volhynian occurrences of the Central Paratethys (see Guzhov 2022b for references on Eastern Paratethyan literature).