Limacidae, also known by their common name the keelback slugs, are a taxonomic family of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Limacoidea.
| Limacidae | |
|---|---|
| |
| A live individual of Limax maximus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Superfamily: | Limacoidea |
| Family: | Limacidae Lamarck, 1801[1] |
| Diversity[2][3] | |
| 12 genera, many species (more than 56 species) | |
Distribution edit
The distribution of the family Limacidae is the western Palearctic.[4] There are 28 species of Limacidae in Russia and adjacent countries.[5]
Anatomy edit
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (October 2023) |
Cytology edit
In this family, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 21 and 25 and also lies between 31 and 35 (according to the values in this table).[6]
Taxonomy edit
2002 taxonomy edit
Zhiltsov & Schileyko (2002)[7] elevated the subfamily Bielziinae to family level, Bielziidae, based on the morphology of the reproductive system of Bielzia coerulans.[7]
2005 taxonomy edit
The following two subfamilies were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005):
- subfamily Limacinae Lamarck, 1801 - synonyms: Limacopsidae Gerhardt, 1935;[8] Bielziinae I. M. Likharev & Wiktor, 1980
- subfamily Eumilacinae I. M. Likharev & Wiktor, 1980[9]
Genera edit
Genera in the family Limacidae include:
subfamily Limacinae
- Limax Linnaeus, 1758[5] - type genus of the family Limacidae
- Limacus Lehmann, 1864; sometimes considered a subgenus of Limax
- Bielzia Clessin, 1887 - with the only species Bielzia coerulans M. Bielz, 1851. Some authors, for example Russian malacologists,[5] classify genus Bielzia within separate family Limacopsidae.[5]
- Caspilimax P. Hesse, 1926[5]
- Caucasolimax Likharev et Wiktor, 1980[5]
- Gigantomilax O. Boettger, 1883[5]
- Gigantomilax csikii Soós, 1924
- Gigantomilax lederi (Boettger, 1883)
- Gigantomilax majoricensis (Heynemann, 1863)[10]
- Lehmannia Heynemann, 1862[5]
- Ambigolimax Pollonera, 1887,;[11] sometimes considered a subgenus of Lehmannia
- Limacopsis Simroth, 1888
- Malacolimax Malm, 1868[5]
- Turcomilax Simroth, 1901[5]
subfamily Eumilacinae
- Eumilax O. Boettger, 1881 - type genus of the subfamily Eumilacinae
- Eumilax brandti (Martens, 1880)
- Metalimax Simroth, 1896
Cladogram edit
A cladogram showing the phylogenic relationships of this family to other families within the limacoid clade:[4]
Ecology edit
Parasites of slugs in this family include larvae of the marsh flies Sciomyzidae, and others.
References edit
- ^ (in French) Lamarck J.-B. 1801. Système des animaux sans vertèbres, ou tableau général des classes, des ordres et des genres de ces animaux; présentant leurs caractères essentiels et leur distribution, d'après la considération de leurs… Paris, Detreville, VIII: 1-432. Page 62, originally spelled under vernacular name "es Limaciers".
- ^ (in Polish) Wiktor A. (1989). Limacoidea et Zonitoidea nuda. Slimaki pomrowioksztaltne (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora). Fauna Poloniae 12, Polska Akademia Nauk, Warszawa, 208 pp., page 141.
- ^ "Families in Gastropoda" AnimalBase. accessed 10 September 2010.
- ^ 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. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00403.x, JSTOR.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kantor Yu I., Vinarski M. V., Schileyko A. A. & Sysoev A. V.(published online on December 22, 2009). "Catalogue of the continental mollusks of Russia and adjacent territories". Version 2.3.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b (in Russian) Zhiltsov S. S. & Schileyko A. A. (2002). "Morphology of reproductive system of Bielzia coerulans (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) and phylogenetic relations of the genus Bielzia". Ruthenica 12: 73-79. abstract.
- ^ (in German) Gerhardt U. (16 July 1935). "Weitere Untersuchungen zur Kopulation der Nacktschnecken". Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Ökologie der Tiere 30(2): 297-332. Page 329.
- ^ (in Russian) Likharev I. M. & Wiktor A. (after 10 November 1980). Slizni fauny SSR i sopredelnykh stran (Gastropoda terrestria nuda) [The fauna of slugs of the USSR and adjacent countries]. Fauna SSSR, Molljuskii, 3(5): 437 pp. Page 290.
- ^ Wiktor A., Quintana J. & Beckmann K.-H. (2007). "Redescription of "Limax majoricensis" (Heynemann 1863) (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Limacidae) from the Balearic Islands. pp. 187-197. In: Beckmann K.-H.: Die Land- und Süßwassermollusken der Balearischen Inseln. ConchBooks, Hackenheim, 255 pp., ISBN 978-3-939767-05-3.
- ^ Marshall, B. (2015). Ambigolimax Pollonera, 1887. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=819989 on 2015-04-15
External links edit
- Slugs of Florida on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site