Deroceras panormitanum

Deroceras panormitanum is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Agriolimacidae. This article is about Deroceras panormitanum sensu stricto, which occurs predominantly only on Sicily and Malta.[2] Previous to 2011,[3] this name was also applied to what turned out to be a distinct species, Deroceras invadens, a species which has spread around the world and is often a pest. Because this is a recent change in the taxonomy, for information on the species commonly referred to in the literature before 2011 as Deroceras panormitanum, please see Deroceras invadens.

This article is about a slug species from Sicily and Malta. For the worldwide pest species, see Deroceras invadens.

Deroceras panormitanum
Two individuals of Deroceras panormitantum from different sites on Sicily (identity checked by observing matings)
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Superorder: Eupulmonata
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Agriolimacidae
Genus: Deroceras
Species:
D. panormitanum
Binomial name
Deroceras panormitanum
Synonyms

Deroceras pollonerae
Deroceras caruanae
Deroceras dubium

This species is not listed in the IUCN red list.[4]

Synonymy

Deroceras panormitanum was described from Palermo in Sicily.[1] It is now widely accepted[3][5][6] that Deroceras pollonerae also described from Palermo,[7] Deroceras caruanae described from Valletta on Malta,[8] and Deroceras dubium from Malta[9] are the same species. Recently Reise et al. (2011)[3] also synonymised Deroceras giustianum from NW Sicily[10] but considered the status of further similar taxa from this general region as uncertain. Now that Deroceras invadens has been recognised as distinct, the morphological variation within Deroceras panormitanum sensu stricto is not as great as once thought.

Description

The skin and flesh of Deroceras panormitanum is watery and fairly transparent. The skin colour varies between pale grey, brown, and black. The mucus is colourless. Externally, Deroceras panormitanum is impossible to distinguish from Deroceras invadens and Deroceras golcheri, which occur in the same islands, and from a variety of other Deroceras species occurring elsewhere.[3][6]

Internally the penis of Deroceras panormitanum has two side pockets (penial caecum and penial lobe), as in Deroceras invadens but unlike in Deroceras golcheri or related forms on Sicily.[3] In Deroceras panormitanum the caecum is more tapering and pointed than in Deroceras invadens. Whereas in Deroceras invadens the retractor muscle attaches directly to a point on the penis between the caecum and lobe, in Deroceras panormitanum it attaches first to the lobe. Also the penial glands often appear more knobbly than in Deroceras invadens. And inside the penis, between the distal and proximal parts, is a small flap that is absent in other species.

Reise et al. (2011)[3] detail the mating behaviour and compare it with that of Deroceras invadens and Deroceras golcheri.

Distribution

This species is widespread on Sicily and Malta[3][11] but has now been recorded also at two sites in South Wales, at one site in Ireland, at one site in northern Italy, on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, at two neighbouring sites on Madeira, and on produce originating from the Azores.[2][12][13][14]

References
  1. Lessona, M.; Pollonera, C. (1882). Monografia dei limacidi italiani. Turin.
  2. Hutchinson, J.M.C.; Reise, H.; Robinson, D.G. (2014). "A biography of an invasive terrestrial slug: the spread, distribution and habitat of Deroceras invadens". NeoBiota. 23: 17–64. doi:10.3897/neobiota.23.7745.
  3. Reise, H.; Hutchinson, J.M.C.; Schunack, S.; Schlitt, B. (2011). "Deroceras panormitanum and congeners from Malta and Sicily, with a redescription of the widespread pest slug as Deroceras invadens n. sp". Folia Malacologica. 19 (4): 201–233. doi:10.2478/v10125-011-0028-1.
  4. "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  5. Giusti, F. (1986). "Notulae malacologicae, XXXIV. Again on the taxonomic status of Deroceras panormitanum (Lessona & Pollonera, 1882), Deroceras pollonerai (Simroth, 1889) and Deroceras caruanai (Pollonera, 1891)". Bollettino Malacologico. 22: 57–64.
  6. Wiktor, A. (2000). "Agriolimacidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) – a systematic monograph" (PDF). Annales Zoologici. 49: 347–590.
  7. Simroth, H. (1889). "Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Nacktschnecken". Nachrichtsblatt der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft. 21: 177–186.
  8. Pollonera, C. (1891). "Appunti di malacologia. VII. Intorno ai Limacidi di Malta". Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparata della Reale Università di Torino. 6: 1–4.
  9. Hoffmann, H. (1941). "Über einige Limaciden" (PDF). Zoologischer Anzeiger. 136: 243–259.
  10. Wiktor, A. (1998). "Two new for science Deroceras species from France and the Italian island of Sicily (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Agriolimacidae)". Malak. Abh. 19: 13–19.
  11. Giusti, F.; Manganelli, G.; Schembri, P.J. (1995). The non-marine molluscs of the Maltese Islands. Monografie XV, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino.
  12. Rowson. B.; Anderson, R.; Turner, J.A.; Symondson, W.O.C. (2014). "The slugs of Britain and Ireland: undetected and undescribed species increase a well-studied, economically important fauna by more than 20%". PLoS ONE. 9 (4): e91907. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091907. PMC 3989179. PMID 24740519.
  13. Rowson, B.; Anderson, R.; Allen, S. (2016). "Another wave of invasion? First record of the true Sicilian slug Deroceras panormitanum sensu stricto from Ireland, and another from Wales (Pulmonata: Agriolimacidae)". Journal of Conchology. 42 (3): 123–125.
  14. Castillejo, J.; Iglesias, J. (2017). "Las babosas de las Islas Baleares (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Testacellidae, Milacidae, Agriolimacidae, Limaidae y Arionidae)". Spira. 6: 97–127.
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