Paraguraleus

Paraguraleus Temporal range: early Oligocene–0 PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Holotype of Paraguraleus balcombensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Mangeliidae
Genus:	Paraguraleus Powell, 1944
Type species
† Guraleus balcombensis Powell, 1944
Synonyms [1]
Guraleus (Paraguraleus)Powell, 1944

Paraguraleus is a genus of minute gastropod molluscs in the family Mangeliidae. ^[1] First described by A. W. B. Powell in 1944, the genus includes both extant species and fossil species dating back to the early Oligocene. Both extant and fossil species have only been found in Australia.

Description

In the original description, Powell described the genus as below:

[Paraguraleus is] identical with Guraleus in adult facies, but with a very different protoconch, which is paucispiral of two globose whorls, assymmetrically wound, with a small tip and terminated by several closely spaced, thin, sinuous brephic axtals...Paraguraleus has a more definite sinus than Antiguraleus, the anterior end is not marked off in sculpture and the protoconch is more distinctly of two globose whorls. That of Antiguraleus is asymmetric, the tip adpressed, not well marked, but thence suddenly and rapidly becoming inflated, bulging more on one side. ^[2]

Taxonomy

Paraguraleus was first described by A. W. B. Powell in 1944 as a subgenus, naming Guraleus balcombensis the type species. ^[2] It was raised to genus status by as early as 1954. ^[3] Powell synonymised the genus with Antiguraleus in 1966. ^[4] Alan Beu synoynymised both Antiguraleus and Paraguraleus with the genus Propebela in 2011. ^[5] This synonymisation is accepted by the Australian Faunal Directory, ^[6] but not by the World Register of Marine Species. ^[1]

Distribution

Paraguraleus fossils date from the early Oligocene and the Miocene, and are found in the Otway Basin, Port Phillip Basin, St Vincent Basin and Eucla Basin of Australia. ^[7] Living taxa are endemic to Australia.

Species

Species within the genus Paraguraleus include: ^[1]

• † Paraguraleus abbreviatus A. W. B. Powell, 1944
• † Paraguraleus balcombensis A. W. B. Powell, 1944
• Paraguraleus emina (Hedley, 1905)
• † Paraguraleus finlayi A. W. B. Powell, 1944
• † Paraguraleus incisus A. W. B. Powell, 1944
• Paraguraleus lucidus Laseron, 1954
• † Paraguraleus obsoletus (G. F. Harris, 1897)

Species brought into synonymy

• Paraguraleus alternatusLaseron, 1954: synonym of Antiguraleus alternatus (Laseron, 1954)
• Paraguraleus costatus(Hedley, 1922): synonym of Antiguraleus costatus (Hedley, 1922)
• Paraguraleus howelliLaseron, 1954: synonym of Antiguraleus howelli (Laseron, 1954)
• Paraguraleus permutatus(Hedley, 1922): synonym of Antiguraleus permutatus (Hedley, 1922)
• Paraguraleus serpentisLaseron, 1954: synonym of Antiguraleus serpentis (Laseron, 1954)
• Paraguraleus subitusLaseron, 1954: synonym of Antiguraleus subitus (Laseron, 1954)
• Paraguraleus tepidusLaseron, 1954: synonym of Antiguraleus tepidus (Laseron, 1954)

Gallery

• 
  Paraguraleus abbreviatus
• 
  Paraguraleus emina
• 
  Paraguraleus finlayi
• 
  Paraguraleus incisus

References

1. Paraguraleus A. W. B. Powell, 1944 . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 21 October 2025.
2. Powell, A. W. B. (1944). "The Australian Tertiary Mollusca of the Family Turridae". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum . 3: 3–68. ISSN   0067-0464. JSTOR   42905993. Wikidata   Q58676624.
3. Laseron, C. 1954. Revision of the New South Wales Turridae (Mollusca). Australian Zoological Handbook. Sydney : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales pp. 56, pls 1–12.
4. Powell, A. W. B. (1 November 1966). "The molluscan families Speightiidae and Turridae: an evaluation of the valid taxa, both recent and fossil, with lists of characteristic species". Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum . 5. Auckland Institute and Museum. ISSN   0067-0456. LCCN   67091267. OCLC   956602. Wikidata   Q115098397.
5. Beu, A. G. (March 2011). "Marine Mollusca of isotope stages of the last 2 million years in New Zealand. Part 4. Gastropoda (Ptenoglossa, Neogastropoda, Heterobranchia)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 41 (1): 1–153. doi:10.1080/03036758.2011.548763. ISSN   0303-6758. Wikidata   Q54553193.
6. "Genus Propebela Iredale, 1918". Australian Faunal Directory . Retrieved 21 October 2025.
7. Darragh, Thomas A. (August 2024). "A checklist of Australian marine Cenozoic Mollusca". Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 83: 37–206. doi:10.24199/j.mmv.2024.83.02.