It is the type species of the genus Tectarius and is native to the limestone coasts of islands in the western Pacific Ocean.

T. coronatus is the type species of the genus Tectarius and was first described by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes in 1833.

[2] T. coronatus is found in the tropical western Pacific Ocean, in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

[4] It is found exclusively on karstic limestone rocks and cliffs, sometimes in the splashzone several meters above the high tide mark.

[3] This is an extremely challenging environment for the mollusk where it is exposed to extreme heat, desiccation, high salinity, and sometimes low salinity (in the torrential tropical rain); in fact the genus name "Tectarius" comes from the Latin meaning "tolerant of difficult conditions" or "avoiding confrontations", while "coronatus" means "crowned".