Aliculastrum Pilsbry, 1896

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 : 357

Genus Aliculastrum Pilsbry, 1896

Type species: Bulla cylindrica Helbling, 1779

The genus Aliculastrum was introduced by Pilsbry (1896) as a replacement name for Alicula Ehrenberg, 1831 . The latter name was preoccupied by Alicula Eichwald, 1830 in reference to another group of marine gastropods with a projecting spire and based on a fossil placed in the family Scaphandridae ( Bouchet 2010) . The type species, Aliculastrum cylindricum was originally ascribed to the genus Bulla ( Helbling 1779) and has been arbitrarily attributed to the genera Atys ( Sowerby 1870; Gosliner et al. 2008) and Aliculastrum ( Habe 1952; Lin 1997; Qi 2004). There is very limited literature documenting the characters that define the genus Aliculastrum . According to Lin (1997), this genus includes species that possess a cylindrical elongated shell, with spiral grooves at both ends and no umbilicus. Aliculastrum cylindricum was described as umbilicated ( Helbling 1779; Adams 1850). However, Chemnitz (1788) mentioned that this is simply a depression that looks very much like an umbilicus. Species ascribed to this genus in the tropical West Pacific include A. cylindricum ( Helbling, 1779) , A. debilis ( Pease, 1860) and A. parallelum ( Gould, 1846) ( Pilsbry 1896; Habe 1952; Lin 1997; Carlson & Hoff 2003; Qi 2004) ( Tab. 1 ).