Mipus, de Gregorio, 1885

Oliverio, Marco, 2008, Coralliophilinae (Neogastropoda: Muricidae) from the southwest Pacific, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 196, pp. 481-586 : 560-561

Genus MIPUS de Gregorio, 1885

Mipus de Gregorio, 1885: 28 . Type species (by original designation): Trophon gyratus Hinds, 1844 ; Recent, western Pacific.

Synonym:

? = Kotakasyrinx Noda, 1980: 42 . Type species (by monotypy): Kotakasyrinx serratiformis Noda, 1980 : Pliocene of Okinawa.

REMARKS. — The genus Mipus has been interpreted in different ways by various authors. Kosuge & Suzuki (1985) ranked it as a genus, diagnosed by a fusiform shell with a conical spire, then included species such as M. hotei Kosuge, 1985 , M. miyukiae Kosuge, 1985 , M. ovoideus Kosuge, 1985 and Rapana nodosa A. Adams, 1854 , which strongly resemble species included in Coralliophila s.l. Tsuchiya (2000) ranked it as a subgenus of Coralliophila . From a conchological point of view, the position of Tsuchiya seems reasonable, but in the absence of a reliable phylogeny for the genera, I prefer to maintain Mipus for the species that seem related to T. gyratus , and have placed the remainder in Coralliophila s.l.

Kotakasyrinx serratiformis Noda, 1980 , from the “Pliocene” of Okinawa ( Noda 1980: 42, figs 7a, b), originally placed in the Turridae , is very similar to Mipus tortuosus (Azuma, 1961) , although another species subsequently included in Kotakasyrinx , namely K. okinawaensis Noda, 1988 , is more turrid-like.