Atopos

Atopos is a genus of carnivorous air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Rathouisiidae.

Atopos
Atopos slug attacking Plectostoma concinnum by shell-drilling.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Systellommatophora
Superfamily:
Veronicelloidea
Family:
Rathouisiidae
Genus:
Atopos

Diversity
10 species

Species

Species within the genus Atopos include:

  • Atopos australis Heynemann, 1876
  • Atopos harmeri Collinge, 1902
  • Atopos kempii[2]
  • Atopos leuckarti Simroth, 1891[1]
  • Atopos laidlawi Collinge, 1902
  • Atopos maximus Collinge 1903[3]
  • Atopos ouwensi Collinge, 1908
  • Atopos prismatica Tapparone-Canefri, 1883
  • Atopos punctata Collinge, 1902
  • Atopos rugosus Collinge, 1902[3]
  • Atopos sarasini Collinge 1902[3]
  • Atopos semperi Simroth, 1891[1]
  • Atopos strubelli Simroth, 1891

Synonyms:

Distribution

The predatory carnivorous slugs in the genus Atopos are found in peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, New Guinea, northeast Australia and, recently, Singapore.

Feeding habits
Atopos sp. slug proboscis (marked with red outline) (the proboscis was not fully extended).

Bornean Atopos specialising in Opisthostoma are known to tailor their approach to the size of the prey. They hold small snails with the shells aperture-upward with the front of its foot and eat their way down. Larger ones scrape away the shell to allow access through the spire. This behaviour is thought to drive the evolution of shell ornamentation in Opisthostoma.[4]

gollark: It's renewable enough, really.
gollark: We did look at it. It was boring, because English.
gollark: I assume they're interesting for physicists, at least.
gollark: Just dramatically named.
gollark: They exist, but they aren't actually that interesting as far as I know.

References
  1. (in German) Simroth H. (1891). "Über das Vaginuludengenus Atopos n. g.". Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Zoologie 52: 593-616. plate 37. page 593.
  2. Liew T.-S. & Schilthuizen M. (2014). "Association between shell morphology of micro-land snails (genus Plectostoma) and their predator’s predatory behaviour". PeerJ 2: e329. doi:10.7717/peerj.329.
  3. Laidlaw F. F. (1940). "Notes on some specimens of the genus Atopos (Mollusca Pulmonata) with microphotographs illustrating points in the anatomy of the genus". The Bulletin of the Raffles Museum 16: 121-132. PDF Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. Tan S. K. & Chan S-Y. (2009). "New records of predatory slugs from Singapore with notes on their feeding behaviour". Nature in Singapore 2: 1-7. PDF.
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