Parmacella valenciennii

Parmacella valenciennii is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Parmacellidae.

Parmacella valenciennii
A live individual of Parmacella valenciennii, head end towards the right
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra
clade limacoid clade
Superfamily:
Parmacelloidea
Family:
Parmacellidae
Genus:
Parmacella
Species:
P. valenciennii
Binomial name
Parmacella valenciennii
Webb & Vanbeneden, 1836[1]

Distribution

The distribution of Parmacella valenciennii includes:

Description

The animal is brownish red to brownish olive, with black bands on the mantle.[2] Adult specimens are lighter.[2] The body is sharply keeled in the posterior section.[2] The mantle length in young animals is about 3/4 of the body length.[2] The mantle is rounded in the anterior part and pointed in posterior part.[2] The animal is up to 100 mm long, usually 70–80 mm long and 20 mm in width.[2]

The shell is yellow, triangular, fragile and flat, with 1.5 whorls.[2] The length of the shell is 15 mm, 9 mm in width and 2–3 mm high.[2]

Parmacella valenciennii differs anatomically from all other Parmacella species by a single, characteristically horn-shaped and almost straight accessory atrial appendix.[2]

Ecology

Parmacella valenciennii lives in stony open habitats, preferring shady and humid sites between plants and stones.[2] The animals move slowly.[2]

There is a high abundance of these animals in the spring;[2] the animals were so abundant that they were formerly used as pig food in southern Portugal.[2]

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[2]

  1. (in French) Webb P. B. & Vanbeneden P. J. (1836). "Notice sur les mollusques du genre Parmacella de Cuvier, et description d'une nouvelle espèce de ce genre". Magasin de Zoologie 6(Cl. V Pl. 75 et 76): 1-12, Pl. 75-76. Paris.
  2. "Species summary for Parmacella valenciennii". AnimalBase, accessed 1 September 2010.
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