Type species: Fedikovella caymanensis MOSKALEV, 1976, by original designation.
Diagnosis: Protoconch with concentric or reticulate sculpture on first 3/4 whorl, smooth thereafter. Teleoconch tall, strongly convex dorsally. Apex along midline, below highest point of shell, overhanging concave posterior slope. Teleoconch sculpture clathrate, with concentric sculpture slightly more prominent than axial. Periostracum smooth. Cephalic tentacles equal in size, right tentacle serving as copulatory organ. Eyes absent. Single pair of epipodial tentacles. Radula with rachidian, first, and second lateral teeth all multicuspid. Pluricuspid tooth largest, with three broad denticles.
Remarks: Based on a detailed examination of the radula of F. caymanensis, Hickman (1983) did not feel that it differed sufficiently from that of Cocculina to warrant recognition of a separate genus. She questioned the utility of a tricuspid rachidian tooth as a defining character of the genus, especially as the number of cusps on the rachidian tooth of several species of cocculinids may vary not only intraspecifically, but also in the same individual (e.g., F. caymanensis, Fig. 3D; F. beanii (DALL, 1882) McLean & Harasewych 1995, fig. 56). Subsequent authors (Marshall 1986; Haszprunar 1987; McLean & Harasewych 1995) have recognized Fedikovella as a distinct genus, distinguishing it from Cocculina using features of the shell, protoconch, and copulatory organ.
In addition to the type species, Moskalev (1976) included the western Atlantic species, Cocculina beanii DALL, 1882, and the Indo-Pacific C. capulus THIELE, 1925, in Fedikovella. McLean & Harasewych (1995) concurred with Moskalev's (1976) allocation of Cocculina beanii to Fedikovella based on the presence of distinctive concentric protoconch sculpture in both species, and suggested that this feature may be diagnostic of the genus. These authors were reluctant to include C capulus in Fedikovella based solely on the presence of a multicuspid rachidian tooth.