Limacus maculatus explained

Limacus maculatus, the green cellar slug or Irish yellow slug, is a species of slug native to the Caucasus and Black Sea coast.^[1] It has also been introduced to a number of northern European countries. In its introduced range the species is often synanthropic. It is most likely to be confused with Limacus flavus, which it closely resembles externally.

Limax ecarinatus Boettger, 1881 is the appropriate name if Limacus is considered a subgenus of Limax.^[2] The reason is that Nunneley already described a Limax maculatus in 1837; this turned out to be a synonym of Limax maximus, but nevertheless the combination Limax maculatus cannot be re-applied to a species described under the name maculatus at a later date (even though that 1851 description used a different genus, Krynickillus).

Distribution

This species is believed to be native in parts of Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Turkey, southwestern Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.^[1] It has now spread to:

• Great Britain^[3]
• Ireland^[3]
• Greece
• Canary Islands
• Germany^[4]
• Netherlands^[5]
• Czech Republic^[6]
• Hungary^[7]
• Belarus^[8]
• Kyiv in Ukraine^[9]
• Saint Petersburg and Astrakhan in Russia^[10]

External links

• Limax ecarinatus at Animalbase
• images

Notes and References

1. Wiktor . A. . Norris . A. . 1982 . The synonymy of Limax maculatus (Kaleniczenko 1851) with notes on its European distribution . . 31 . 75–77.
2. Book: Welter-Schultes . F.W. . Guidelines for the capture and management of digital zoological names information. Version 1.1 . 2013 . Global Biodiversity Information Facility . Copenhagen . 978-87-92020-44-4 . 65 .
3. Book: Rowson, B . Slugs of Britain & Ireland : identification, understanding and control . FSC Publications National Museum of Wales . Telford Cardiff . 2014 . 978-1-908819-13-0 . 889104870 .
4. Eta . K. . Hausdorf . B. . Limacus maculatus (Kaleniczenko 1851) in Hamburg (Gastropoda: Limacidae) . Mitteilungen der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft . 2020 . 102 . 49–51.
5. Langeraert . W. . van de Haar . P.G. . Margry . K. . The green cellar slug Limacus maculatus (Kaleniczenko, 1851) (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Limacidae) new for the Netherlands . Basteria . 2021 . 85 . 1 . 6–12.
6. Čejka . T. . Beran . L. . Korábek . O. . Hlaváč . J.Č. . Horáčková . J. . Coufal . R. . Drvotová . M. . Maňas . M. . Horsáková . V. . Horsák . M. . Malacological news from the Czech and Slovak Republics in 2015–2019 . Malacologica Bohemoslovaca . 2020 . 19 . 71–106. 10.5817/MaB2020-19-71 .
7. Turóci . Á. . Hutchinson . J. . Schlitt . B. . Reise . H. . Rapala . M. . Páll-Gergely . B. . Five new introduced terrestrial slugs in Hungary . BioInvasions Records . 2023 . 12 . 3 . 711–729 . 10.3391/bir.2023.12.3.08. free .
8. Ostrovsky . A.M. . Новые находки синантропных слизней Limacus maculatus и Arion vulgaris (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) в Беларуси [New records of synanthropic slugs ''Limacus maculatus'' and ''Arion vulgaris'' (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) in Belarus] . Ruthenica . 2022 . 32 . 2 . 93–98 . 10.35885/ruthenica.2022.32(2).6. free .
9. Balashov . I. . Markova . A. . 2021 . Occurrence of an invasive slug, Limacus flavus (Stylommatophora: Limacidae) in the trees of an urban landscape in Kyiv city (Ukraine), with remarks on its colouration . Ruthenica . 31 . 3 . 111–120 . 10.35885/ruthenica.2021.31(3).1. free .
10. Book: Sysoev . A.V. . Schileyko . A.A. . Land snails and slugs of Russia and adjacent countries . 2009 . Pensoft . Sofia, Moscow.