Type material of four pteropod species (Gastropoda, Euthecosomata) described from the Miocene of New Zealand, originally or subsequently assigned to the genus Vaginella, is revised: Vaginella aucklandica Clarke, 1905, is reassigned to the genus Ireneia; Clio (Creseis) urenuiensis Suter, 1917, and V. inflata Hayward, 1981, are considered to be junior subjective synonyms of Ireneia calandrellii (Michelotti, 1847) and Vaginella depressa Daudin, 1800, respectively. Vaginella torpedo Marshall, 1918, is transferred to Cuvierina (Cuvierina), while additional samples identified as Vaginella aucklandica are shown to be assignable to Ireneia calandrellii and I. nieulandei Janssen, 1995. The presence of several species of Ireneia in the New Zealand area during the Early Miocene supports the hypothesis that the genus Cuvierina developed from an Ireneia-root around the Oligocene/Miocene transition. The transition from Vaginella depressa into V. austriaca Kittl, 1886, during the Late Burdigalian, took place exclusively in the Atlantic and Mediterranean realms. Closure of the Tethyan Seaway apparently prevented this in the Pacific Basin, where V. depressa ranges into the Serravallian.