Tandonia rustica
Photo:Francisco Welter Schultes
Slug shells of Tandonia rustica.Photo:Francisco Welter Schultes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Milacidae
Genus: Tandonia
Species:
T. rustica
Binomial name
Tandonia rustica
(Millet, 1843)
Synonyms

Limax rustica Millet, 1843
Milax sowerbii var. rustica

Tandonia rustica is a species of air-breathing, keeled, land slug, a shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc in the family Milacidae.

Description

70 mm–100 mm. long whitish In colour creamy or reddish to yellowish grey with numerous black dots. The mantle is 40% of body length (preserved specimens). The mantle is granular with a deep but not conspicuous horseshoe-shaped groove with black streaks. The breathing pore has a pale rim. The keel is yellowish to white. The sole is cream.

The penis and epiphallus form a single long cylindrical organ: penis with a swelling anteriorly, inside with a richly ornamented papilla, epiphallus obviously longer than penis. ,The vas deferens opens symmetrically, the spermatheca is elongate with a sharp pointed end, its duct slightly shorter and with a swelling half-way. The vagina is not much wider than the oviduct, accessory glands are compact duct-like canals, surrounding and opening to the anterior end of the vagina, The atrium is short.(Francisco Welter Schultes)

Description

This is a keeled slug.

Distribution

This slug is native to Central Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Switzerland); it has spread/been introduced much wider (Belgium, Croatia, Corsica, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Slovakia, and the Netherlands[2]).[1]

This species has not yet become established in the USA, but it is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore, it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.[3]

Habitat

Deciduous and mixed forests on mountain slopes with limestone rock rubble, also in open habitats on calcareous soils.

References

  1. 1 2 Rowson, B. (2017). "Tandonia rustica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T171361A1325060. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T171361A1325060.en. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  2. ↑ "Anemoon > Flora en Fauna > Soorteninformatie". www.anemoon.org.
  3. ↑ Cowie, Robert H.; Dillon, Robert T.; Robinson, David G.; Smith, James W. (2009). "Alien non-marine snails and slugs of priority quarantine importance in the United States: A preliminary risk assessment". American Malacological Bulletin. 27 (1–2): 113–132. doi:10.4003/006.027.0210. Archived 2016-06-16 at the Wayback Machine


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