Atys Montfort, 1810

Too, Chin Chin, Carlson, Clay, Hoff, Patty Jo & Malaquias, Manuel António E., 2014, Diversity and systematics of Haminoeidae gastropods (Heterobranchia: Cephalaspidea) in the tropical West Pacific Ocean: new data on the genera Aliculastrum, Atys, Diniatys and Liloa, Zootaxa 3794 (3), pp. 355-392 : 368

Genus Atys Montfort, 1810

Type species: Atys naucum ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Type locality. Ambon region, Indonesia (based on Rumphius 1705) .

The genus Atys was first introduced by Montfort (1810) with type species Atys cymbulus Montfort, 1810 . This species was considered a synonym of Bulla naucum Linnaeus, 1758 by Pilsbry (1895), and apparently even before by Sowerby (1870). Montfort (1810) referred the species to the African coast, although he did not specify the exact locality; though, the author was likely referring to the east coast of Africa, because A. naucum is only known in the Indo-West Pacific.

Species have been ascribed to this genus mostly based on shell morphology. The genus is characterized by umbilicate oval-elongate or inflated shells, with spiral grooves. The gizzard plates are covered with tiny rods and the radula has a median tooth ( Bergh 1901; Lin 1997; Carlson & Hoff 1999). Species of the genus Atys are commonly found on shallow sandy bottoms in tropical and temperate regions and about 50 species have been reported in the Indo-West Pacific ( OBIS 2012a) (see Tab. 2 for diagnostic characters of species described here).