Agriolimacidae

Agriolimacidae
Temporal range: Pleistocene–Recent[1]
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The largest slug in the image is an individual of Deroceras reticulatum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Superfamily: Limacoidea
Family: Agriolimacidae
H. Wagner [hu], 1935[2]
Type genus
Agriolimax
Mörch, 1865
Diversity[3][4]
6 genera, about 135 species (123 species in Deroceras + at least 12 other species)

Agriolimacidae is a family of small and medium-sized land slugs, or shell-less snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks.

Distribution

Distribution of Limacidae is Holarctic,[1] this include: Nearctic, western Palearctic and eastern Palearctic.[5]

Agriolimacidae is the largest slug family, some are introduced all over the world, synanthropes are often severe pests.[1]

This view of the right side of Deroceras praecox clearly shows the position of its pneumostome.

Anatomy

Most slugs in the family Agriolimacidae are rather small; only a few (in the genera Mesolimax and Krynickillus) are larger. Most are not more than 50 mm long.[1] The mantle is usually large, occupying approximately 1/3 of the entire body length, situated in the anterior part of the body.[1] The pneumostome is clearly postmedial.[1] The surface of the mantle in living slugs is covered in concentric, mobile wrinkles.[1] In addition sometimes there is a shallow, poorly defined groove which runs above the pneumostome on the right side, not passing to the left.[1]

The penis is short, usually bag-shaped, often with external appendages, inside with different stimulatory organs.[1] No tubular membrane encircles the penis and vas deferens.[1] The penis retractor muscle is situated beside the right tentacle.[1]

In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 26 and 30 (according to the values in this table).[6]

Taxonomy

The following two subfamilies have been recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005):

  • subfamily Agriolimacinae H. Wagner, 1935[2] – synonym: Deroceratinae Magne, 1952
  • subfamily Mesolimacinae Hausdorf, 1998

Genera

Genera within the family Agriolimacidae include:

subfamily Agriolimacinae

subfamily Mesolimacinae

subfamily ?

Cladogram

A cladogram showing the phylogenic relationships of this family to other families within the limacoid clade:[5]

limacoid clade

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Family summary for Agriolimacidae". AnimalBase, last change 23-05-2010, accessed 4 August 2010
  2. ^ a b Wagner, János (Hans) (1935). "Magyarország, Horvátország és Dalmácia hazátlan csigái. II. rész" [Die Nacktschnecken Ungarns, Croatiens und Dalmatiens. Teil II] (PDF). Annales historico-naturales Musei nationalis hungarici. 29 (pars zoologica): 169–212.
  3. ^ "Genera in family Agriolimacidae" [n = 6]. AnimalBase, accessed 10 September 2010.
  4. ^ Wiktor, A. (2000). "Agriolimacidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) – a systematic monograph" (PDF). Annales Zoologici. 49 (4): 347–590.
  5. ^ a b Hausdorf, B. (2000). "Biogeography of the Limacoidea sensu lato (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora): vicariance events and long-distance dispersal". Journal of Biogeography. 27 (2): 379–390. Bibcode:2000JBiog..27..379H. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00403.x. JSTOR 2656267. S2CID 84011338.
  6. ^ Barker G. M.: Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1–146, cited pages: 139 and 142.
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