Oopeltidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of air-breathing land

slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a ...

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an Order (biology), order, and before that a Class (biology), subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a Respiratory system of gastro ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s in the superfamily

Arionoidea Arionoidea is a taxonomic group, superfamily of air-breathing land slugs, shell-less terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks. Families Families within the superfamily Arionoidea include: * Arionidae * Anadenidae * Ariolimacidae * Binneyidae ...

(according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

Subfamilies and genera

The family Oopeltidae consists of two subfamilies: * Oopeltinae Cockerell, 1891 * Ariopeltinae Sirgel, 1985 Sirgel W. F. (1985)
"A new subfamily of Arionidae (Mollusca, Pulmonata)"
'' Annals of the Natal Museum'' 26(2): 471-487. Ariopeltinae is on the page 473. Genera in the family Oopeltidae include: Oopeltinae * '' Oopelta'' Mörch n Heynemann 1867 - type genus of the family Oopeltidae ** '' Oopelta nigropunctata''

Ariopeltinae * '' Ariopelta'' Sirgel, 1985 - type genus of the subfamily Ariopeltinae ** ''

Ariopelta capensis ''Ariopelta capensis'' is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusk in the family Oopeltidae. ''Ariopelta capensis'' is the type species of the genus ''Ariopelta''. Distribution Distribution of ''Ario ...

'' Krauss, 1848 - type species, synonym: ''Limax'' (''Limas'') ''capensis'' Krauss, 1848 ** '' Ariopelta variegata'' Sirgel, 2012Sirgel, W.F. 2012. A new species of Oopeltidae (Mollusca, Pulmonata, Arionoidea), with a revision of the subfamily Ariopeltinae and remarks on its affinities within the family and superfamily. ''

African Invertebrates ''African Invertebrates'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal that covers the taxonomy, systematics, biogeography, ecology, conservation, and palaeontology of Afrotropical invertebrates, whether terrestrial, freshwater, or ma ...

'' 53 (2): 527-54

/ref> * '' Ariostralis'' ** ''

Ariostralis nebulosa ''Ariostralis nebulosa'' is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusk in the family Oopeltidae. Distribution This is a species of non-marine mollusc found in South Africa only.Sirgel, W. F.; Artigas, ...

Distribution

Two genera of Ariopeltinae live in South Africa. ''

'' and ''

'' are

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

primitive species in the

Cape Fold Mountains The Cape Fold Belt is a fold and thrust belt of late Paleozoic age, which affected the sequence of sedimentary rock layers of the Cape Supergroup in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It was originally continuous with the Ventana Mou ...

. In the Landdroskop area there are

melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...

populations of these slugs.Costandius E. (2005)
''The Landdroskop area in the Hottentots Holland Mountains as a refugium for melanistic lizard species: an analysis for conservation''
Department of Botany and Zoology,

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest ext ...

, 76 pp.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2024819 Endemic fauna of South Africa Taxa named by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell Gastropod genera