Teretia Norman, 1888: 8.
Azorilla Nordsieck, 1968: 184, n. syn.
TYPE SPECIES. — Pleurotoma teres Reeve, 1844, see discussion below.
REMARKS
Teretia was proposed as an emendation of Teres Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1883 (preoccupied by Teres Boettger, 1878, a clausilid land-snail), and later used as a substitute name. Bucquoy, Dautzenberg and Dollfus fixed Pleurotoma anceps Eichwald, 1830, as the type species of Teres, but they used the name P.anceps for a Recent Mediterranean species and listed “ Pleurotoma teres Forbes (non Reeve)” in its synonymy. Pleurotoma teres Reeve, 1844, was established for the Recent species, and Forbes is generally considered to have properly applied Reeve’s name, whereas P. anceps Eichwald, 1830, is a distinct Miocene species from eastern Europe ( Janssen 1984; Bałuk 2003; Brunetti & Vecchi 2003). The name Teres Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1883 is therefore based on a misidentified type species and a type species should be fixed under ICZN Art. 70.3.2. Hereby we select Pleurotoma teres Reeve, 1844 as type species of Teres Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1883 and its substitute Teretia Norman, 1888.
Horro & Rolán (2017) assigned to Teretia several species, among which Teretia strongyla ( Dall, 1927) and called attention on the peculiar microsculpture of granules which is diagnostic of this genus. Pleurotomella megalembryon, the type species of Azorilla Nordsieck, 1968 ( Fig. 23 A-F), has this microsculpture and has a protoconch very similar to that of the type species of Teretia ( Fig. 23 G, H). Pleurotomella megalembryon is perceived as congeneric with Teretia strongyla and consequently we consider Azorilla a subjective junior synonym of Teretia. Bouchet & Warén (1980) already noted that “ P. megalembryon has a sculpture which recalls that of Terelia teres ”. The details of the protoconch sculpture, in both cases with spiral rows of cross-shaped nodules on protoconch 1 and a typical raphitomine sculpture on protoconch 2, are also shared (see Fig. 23 E, H).