Kerry slug

Kerry slug
The right side of a dark slug with yellow spots, head to the right
Photo of dorsal view
Drawing of right side view
Drawing of right side view
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Arionidae
Genus: Geomalacus
Subgenus: Geomalacus
Species:
G. maculosus
Binomial name
Geomalacus maculosus
Allman, 1843[2]
Distribution map for the species.
Synonyms[5]

The Kerry slug or Kerry spotted slug (Geomalacus maculosus) is a species of terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. It is a medium-to-large sized, air-breathing land slug in the family of roundback slugs, Arionidae.

Adult Kerry slugs generally measure 7–8 cm (2.8–3.1 in) in length; they are dark-grey or brown with yellowish spots. The internal anatomy of the slug has some unusual features and some characteristic differences from the genus Arion, also part of Arionidae. The Kerry slug was described in 1843—later than many other relatively large land gastropods present in Ireland and Great Britain—an indication of its restricted distribution and secretive habits.

Although the distribution of this slug species includes south-western Ireland—including County Kerry—the species is more widespread in north-western Spain and central-to-northern Portugal. Given that the slug has thus far been recorded exclusively at locations in Ireland and north-western Iberia, it can be said to tentatively possess a Lusitanian distribution. The species appears to require environments that have high humidity, warm summer temperatures and acidic soils with no calcium carbonate. The slug is mostly nocturnal or crepuscular but in Ireland it is active on overcast days. It feeds on lichens, liverworts, mosses and fungi, which grow on boulders and tree trunks.

The Kerry slug is protected by conservation laws in the three countries in which it occurs. It is now known to be less dependent on sensitive, wild habitats than when these laws were introduced. Attempts have been made to establish breeding populations in captivity to ensure the survival of this slug species but these have been only partly successful.

  1. ^ Rowson, B. (2017). "Geomalacus maculosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T9049A85983466. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T9049A85983466.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. ^ Allman, G. J. (1843). "On a new genus of terrestrial gasteropod". The Athenaeum (829): 851.
  3. ^ Simroth, H. (1894). "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der portugiesischen und der ostafrikanischen Nacktschnecken-Fauna". Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft (in German). 18 (3): 289–307, table 1, figure 1, table 2, figure 1–3. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  4. ^ Castro, J. da Silva (1873). "Mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles du Portugal. Espèces nouvelles ou peu connues". Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas, Physicas e Naturaes (in French). 4: 241–246. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Geomalacus maculosus General Information". EUNIS biodiversity database. European Environment Agency (EEA). Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2010.