History of the taxon:

Etymology of the name:

Taxon: Iridoviridae Proposal: Ratification_1975.pdf  ICTV Report: Iridoviridae Reference: PMID: 28648249 

from Iris (iridos), the daughter of mythological Greek gods, whose sign was the rainbow, referring to the iridescent appearance of invertebrates infected with viruses of the family as well as centrifuged pellets of virions; the suffix -viridae for family taxa