Guide to Iconella

The genus Iconella has been resurrected (Ruck et al. 2016) and now includes Stenopterobia and the robustiod species within Surirella and Campylodiscus.

Iconella was originally described from Lake Ohrid, Macedonia by Jurilj (1949), with I. variabilis as the generitype. Later, Jurilj transferred Iconella variabilis into the genus Surirella (1949), along with several other genera. From 1949 to 2016, Iconella was neglected. Recent investigation of the evolution of the Surirelliaceae (Ruck et al. 2016) included resurrection of Iconella.

Phylogenetic relationships of the surirelloid genera were determined based on gene sequences from nuclear, plastid, and mitochondrial genomes (Ruck and Theriot 2011, Ruck et al. 2016). This important revision includes consideration of the habitats and ecology of representative taxa, particularly the marine-freshwater transition of taxa. The Surirelliaceae are an ancestrally marine group, and the work of Ruck et al. (2016) provides evidence of transition of marine to freshwater habitats via intermediate brackish water habitats.