Shelled slug | |
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Drawing of the shelled slug, Testacella haliotidea | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Testacellidae |
Genus: | Testacella |
Species: | T. haliotidea
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Binomial name | |
Testacella haliotidea
Lamarck, 1801
|
The shelled slug, scientific name Testacella haliotidea, is a rarely seen, air-breathing, carnivorous land slug, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Testacellidae, the shelled slugs. [2]
This slug, like others in the family, has a small shell, which is situated towards the rear of the animal. The species epithet is haliotidea because the shell of this species resembles in shape a miniature version of the shell of the marine species in the family Haliotidae, the abalones.
This is a large, very agile, pale brown slug, with a length of 12 cm. It has a small ear-shaped, external shell, less than 1 cm long, at the tail end of the mantle.
The following shell description is modified from Tryon 1885. The shell is oval-auriform, depressed, and rugosely striate. It has a thin, readily deciduous epidermis. The apex is minute, very short and not separated from the columellar margin. The aperture is rounded and usually dilated anteriorly; the columella and the outer margin of the aperture form a distinct angle at their junction. The interior of the shell is whitish and pearly. The length of the shell is 6–10 mm. [3]
This species is common along the western Mediterranean, along the European Atlantic coast and throughout Great Britain apart from northern Scotland. [4] This slug occurs in Europe but its distribution is under-recorded there.
It was recorded in Czechia as an introduced species. [5] It also occurs as an introduced species in southern Australia, New Zealand [6] and North America (where it is called the earshell slug). The distribution data for the United States, ( Oregon, Wisconsin) and Canada ( British Columbia, Nova Scotia) are incomplete.
This species is seen mostly in the spring, living in cultivated habitats or on disturbed ground. The slug lives mostly underground, [4] but may sometimes be found under stones or in leaf litter.
This slug hunts and eats earthworms underground. The radula teeth are a functional adaption in the capturing of prey.
Shelled slug | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Drawing of the shelled slug, Testacella haliotidea | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Testacellidae |
Genus: | Testacella |
Species: | T. haliotidea
|
Binomial name | |
Testacella haliotidea
Lamarck, 1801
|
The shelled slug, scientific name Testacella haliotidea, is a rarely seen, air-breathing, carnivorous land slug, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Testacellidae, the shelled slugs. [2]
This slug, like others in the family, has a small shell, which is situated towards the rear of the animal. The species epithet is haliotidea because the shell of this species resembles in shape a miniature version of the shell of the marine species in the family Haliotidae, the abalones.
This is a large, very agile, pale brown slug, with a length of 12 cm. It has a small ear-shaped, external shell, less than 1 cm long, at the tail end of the mantle.
The following shell description is modified from Tryon 1885. The shell is oval-auriform, depressed, and rugosely striate. It has a thin, readily deciduous epidermis. The apex is minute, very short and not separated from the columellar margin. The aperture is rounded and usually dilated anteriorly; the columella and the outer margin of the aperture form a distinct angle at their junction. The interior of the shell is whitish and pearly. The length of the shell is 6–10 mm. [3]
This species is common along the western Mediterranean, along the European Atlantic coast and throughout Great Britain apart from northern Scotland. [4] This slug occurs in Europe but its distribution is under-recorded there.
It was recorded in Czechia as an introduced species. [5] It also occurs as an introduced species in southern Australia, New Zealand [6] and North America (where it is called the earshell slug). The distribution data for the United States, ( Oregon, Wisconsin) and Canada ( British Columbia, Nova Scotia) are incomplete.
This species is seen mostly in the spring, living in cultivated habitats or on disturbed ground. The slug lives mostly underground, [4] but may sometimes be found under stones or in leaf litter.
This slug hunts and eats earthworms underground. The radula teeth are a functional adaption in the capturing of prey.