Nystiellinae Clench & Turner, 1952

Harzhauser, Mathias & Landau, Bernard M., 2025, The Epitoniidae (Gastropoda, Epitonioidea) of the Miocene Central Paratethys Sea-an overwhelming diversity, Zootaxa 5630 (1), pp. 1-142 : 8

Subfamily Nystiellinae Clench & Turner, 1952

Genus Opaliopsis Thiele, 1928

Type species. Scala elata Thiele, 1925 ; original designation by Thiele 1928: 92). Present-day, Indian Ocean.

Diagnosis. “ Shell with broad axial ribs; no intritacalx; protoconch conical, of 3–4 whorls, with distinct axial ribs and sometimes interstitial spiral striae, often dark in colour.” ( Kilburn 1985: 295).

Discussion. This genus as currently understood might need revision. The type species, Opaliopsis opalina ( Dall, 1927) , from the western Atlantic, and Opaliopsis hiranoi ( Shikama, 1962) , from the Indo-West Pacific are turreted shells with low whorls, moderately impressed suture and axial sculpture of weakly raised ribs with weak spiral sculpture. These species have a marked basal angulation with a prominent peribasal cord (e.g., Weil et al. 1999: figs 350, 393; Andrade et al. 2011: fig. 13D). Other species treated as Opaliopsis by Andrade et al. (2011) and Pimenta et al. (2018) differ in their strong spiral sculpture and strongly raised varices [e.g., ‘ Opaliopsis’ atlantis ( Clench & Turner, 1952)]. The Miocene Opaliopsis compacta nov sp. and the Pliocene Opaliopsis savii ( Bogi & Cauli, 1998) and Opaliopsis cf. savii ( Bogi & Cauli, 1998) , described by Landau et al. (2006: pl. 5, figs 1–2), have stocky, subcylindrical whorls and are reminiscent of the extant Opaliopsis rabalaisi García, 2005 from the Gulf of Mexico, which however has more prominent varices. Thus, the placement of the Paratethyan species in Opaliopsis is tentative.