Spaniodontella Andrussow in Goloubiatnikow, 1902 – a critical survey of use and validity of the genus, and its relationship to the genus Alveinus Conrad, 1865 (Mollusca, Bivalvia: Glossoidea, Kelliellidae)

Ever since its introduction the genus Spaniodon Reuss, 1867 (a preoccupied name replaced by Spaniodontella Andrussow in Goloubiatnikow, 1902) has been the subject of discussions and misinterpretations concerning its nomenclatural and systematical status. Originally described from the Middle Miocene (Middle Badenian, Wieliczian) of Poland the type species, S. nitida Reuss, 1867, also is a common bivalve in several Oligocene and Miocene assemblages of the North Sea and Aquitaine basins, as well as in Miocene assemblages of the Central Paratethys. The various, and frequently conflicting, opinions were reason for us to have a closer look at the literature to evaluate the different concepts. Ultimately we had to agree with Harris’s (1920), Glibert & van de Poel’s (1966) and Zhgenti’s (1976b) decision that the genus Alveinus Conrad, 1865, introduced from the North American Eocene, indeed is a senior synonym of Spaniodon/ Spaniodontella. The genus Davidaschvilia Merklin, 1950 (type species Spaniodontella intermedia Andrussow in Bajarunas, 1910), introduced for Middle Miocene (Karaganian) species in the eastern Paratethys, differs only slightly from Alveinus and should be retained in the same family Kelliellidae as Alveinus. The genus Lutetia Deshayes, 1860 differs in construction of the hinge and placement of the ligament, and should be placed in the separate family Lutetiidae Zhgenti, 1976. For Spaniodontella gentilis (Eichwald, 1851) and related species from the Ponto-Caspian Miocene a new genus Zhgentiana is introduced, tentatively placed in Lutetiidae.