Neha Patil (Editor)

Arion fuscus

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Superfamily
  
Arionoidea

Genus
  
Arion

Higher classification
  
Arion

Phylum
  
Mollusca

Family
  
Arionidae

Scientific name
  
Arion fuscus

Rank
  
Species

Arion fuscus wwwjaxshellsorgimages20snail7111subjpg

Similar
  
Arion, Gastropods, Arionidae, Molluscs, Arion distinctus

Giant slug perhaps arion fuscus


Arion fuscus, also known as the "Dusky Arion", is a species of small air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs.

Contents

Arion fuscus Nature photography by Dragisa Savic

Arion subfuscus (Draparnaud, 1805) is considered by some authors to be a partial synonym for Arion fuscus.☃☃ ↵Arion subfuscus (Draparnaud, 1805) and A. fuscus (Müller, 1774) have very similar morphology and have overlapping distributional ranges in northwestern Europe. Arion fuscus is widespread throughout Central, North and East Europe whereas A. subfuscus is restricted to West Europe. (For practical purposes the two are synonyms in Germany and in the Czech Republic.) The two taxa are referred to as the species complex Arion subfuscus/fuscus both members having several evolutionary lineages.They are only separable by alloenzyme analysis and gonad type.

Arion fuscus Image Arion fuscus BioLibcz

Arion fuscus aka dusky arion slug is eating slug pellets in the soothing rain short version


Description

Arion fuscus Fact Sheet Arion subfuscus group Arion fuscus

A 50-70 mm roundback slug. It is brown in colour, ranging from black-brown through olive-brown to orange and bright reddish-orange. Darker lateral bands are present. Dark pigment reaches under the pneumostome from back to front. The foot fringe is pale with thin lines.The sole is uniformly pale/translucent.The tentacles are pale.It does not contract into a bell shape when stimulated. The Dusky Arion differs from other Arion species in its yellow-orange body mucus. Genitalia:Atrium about half diameter of spermatheca, spermatheca spherical, oviduct large and swollen like in Arion lusitanicus

Distribution

This species occurs in European and Asian countries and islands including:

  • Austria
  • Bulgaria
  • Czech Republic - least concern (LC)
  • Germany
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Slovakia
  • Great Britain
  • Ireland
  • China
  • and other areas
  • Habitat

    Arion fuscus Fact Sheet Arion subfuscus group Arion fuscus

    This slug lives under fallen logs and under bark in woodland areas, but it also lives in hedges, gardens, pastures and dunes.

    References

    Arion fuscus Wikipedia