Arion (gastropod) explained

Arion is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs. Most species of this Palearctic genus are native to the Iberian Peninsula.[1]

Species can be difficult to distinguish from one another upon cursory examination, because individuals of a species can vary in color and there are few obvious differences between taxa.[2] The color of an individual can be influenced by its diet.[3]

Some Arion are known as pests, such as A. lusitanicus auct. non Mabille (= A. vulgaris), which damages agricultural crops and ornamental plants, and A. rufus, a familiar garden pest.[4] Arion slugs are often transported internationally in shipments of plant products and mushrooms.[5] Arion slugs have been identified in North America and Australia as invasive species, altering the plants of ecosystems through seed predation and competing with native slugs.[6]

Species

There are approximately 40 species in the genus.[3]

Species include:

Also included

Etymology

The name Arion is from Neo-Latin, from the Greek areíones, a “kind of snail or slug.”[9]

Notes and References

  1. Quinteiro . J. . Rodriguez-Castro . J. . Castillejo . J. . Iglesias-Pineiro . J. . Rey-Mendez . M. . Phylogeny of slug species of the genus Arion: evidence of monophyly of Iberian endemics and of the existence of relict species in Pyrenean refuges . Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research . 2005 . 43 . 2 . 139–148 . 10.1111/j.1439-0469.2005.00307.x.
  2. Skujienė, G. and M. Soroka. (2003). A comparison of different DNA extraction methods for slugs (Mollusca: Pulmonata). Ekologija 1, 12–16.
  3. Jordaens . K. . Food-induced body pigmentation questions the taxonomic value of colour in the self-fertilizing slug Carinarion spp. . Journal Molluscan Studies . 2001 . 67 . 2 . 161–167 . 10.1093/mollus/67.2.161 . free .
  4. Soroka, M., et al. (2008). Distribution and genetic diversity of the terrestrial slugs Arion lusitanicus Mabille, 1868 and Arion rufus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Poland based on mitochondrial DNA. Folia Biologica 57(1–2), 1–2.
  5. Barr . N.B. . Cook . A. . Elder . P. . Molongoski . J. . Prasher . D. . Robinson . D.G. . Application of a DNA barcode using the 16S rRNA gene to diagnose pest Arion species in the USA . Journal of Molluscan Studies . 2009 . 75 . 2 . 187–191 . 10.1093/mollus/eyn047 . free .
  6. Zemanova . Miriam . Broenniman . Olivier . Guisan . Antoine . Knop . Eva . Heckel . Gerard . Slimy invasion: Climatic niche and current and future biogeography of Arion slug invaders . Diversity and Distributions: A Journal of Conservation Biogeography . 13 June 2018 . 24 . 11 .
  7. Manganelli, G., et al. (2010). The status of Arion alpinus Pollonera 1887, and re-description of Arion obesoductus Reischütz 1973 (Gastropoda, Arionidae). Journal of Conchology 40, 269–76.
  8. Jordaens . Kurt . Pinceel . Jan . Van Houtte . Natalie . Breugelmans . Karin . Backeljau . Thierry . Arion transsylvanus (Mollusca, Pulmonata, Arionidae): rediscovery of a cryptic species . Zoologica Scripta . 2010 . 39 . 4 . 343–362 . 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2010.00425.x.
  9. Web site: Definition of ARION . www.merriam-webster.com . 11 August 2021 . en.

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