Type species. Melanella dufresnii Bowdich, 1822, by monotypy (Recent / Mauritius Islands, Indian Ocean).
Diagnosis. See Souza & Pimenta (2019b).
Remarks. Souza & Pimenta (2019b) discussed the shell morphology of the type species in detail. A concise diagnosis of the genus is doubtful since Melanella comprises a wide variety of species (Bouchet & Warén 1986; Souza & Pimenta 2019b). Here, we follow previous authors in considering a great diversity in shell morphology in the present genus.