me lania

[Gr., a black cloud.] Zool.: The typical genus of the family Melaniadse. The whorls are ornamented with str iæ, the outer lip sharp, aperture oval, pointed above; operculum melaniadæ sub-spiral. One hundred and sixty species are distributed along the rivers of the south of Europe, India, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands. Known species: Thirty-four recent, and twenty-five fo il, from the Tertiary.