genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of air-breathing land
slug
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, 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 ...
s in the family
Limacidae
Limacidae, also known by their common name the keelback slugs, are a taxonomic family of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Limacoidea.
Distribution
The distributio ...
, the keelback slugs.
There is still ongoing disagreement whether it is more appropriate to consider ''Ambigolimax'' as merely a subgenus of ''
Lehmannia
''Lehmannia'' is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the family Limacidae, the keelback slugs. The genus is distributed in Europe and North Africa.
* ''
Ambigolimax parvipenis
''Ambigolimax parvipenis'' is a species of air-breathing land slug, a Terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod Mollusca, mollusc in the Limacidae.
Taxonomy
''Ambigolimax parvipenis'' was first clearly characterised in 2014, based o ...
'' Hutchinson, Reise & Schlitt, 2022
* ''
Ambigolimax valentianus
''Ambigolimax valentianus'' (also known as ''Lehmannia valentiana'') is a species of terrestrial slug, a pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Limacidae.
It has spread very widely around the world, especially in greenhouses, where it can be ...
Ambigolimax waterstoni
''Ambigolimax waterstoni'' is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Limacidae.
Taxonomy
This is one of the several species formerly confused under the name ''Limax nyctelius'' and later ' ...
'' Hutchinson, Reise & Schlitt, 2022
These species are not reliably distinguishable on the basis of external characters, so identification requires either dissection to reveal the genitalia or DNA sequencing. All three are invasive in various parts of the world.
* In addition, ''Lehmannia melitensis'' is treated as '' Ambigolimax melitensis'' by Hutchinson et al. (2022) based on similarity of DNA sequences.
Previous usage of the name ''
Ambigolimax nyctelius
The name ''Ambigolimax nyctelius'' (and similarly ''Lehmannia nyctelia'' and ''Limax nyctelius'') has been used to refer to several species of air-breathing land slugs (terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs) in the family Limacidae. An articl ...
'' has now been shown to refer to several species that had been confused: ''A. parvipenis'', ''A. waterstoni'', and '' Lehmannia carpatica''. Furthermore, the species name ''nyctelius'' actually refers to a species of ''Letourneuxia'' (family
Arionidae
Arionidae, common name the "roundback slugs" or "round back slugs" are a taxonomic family of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Arionoidea.
Distribution
The distribution of this family of s ...
).
Taxonomic history
''Ambigolimax'' was constructed by Pollonera in 1887 to encompass ''A. valentianus'' and what he called ''A. fulvus'' but is now understood to be ''
Malacolimax tenellus
''Malacolimax tenellus'' (lemon slug) is a species of air-breathing land slug, a shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Limacidae.
Description
The body is yellow in color and can grow up to .
Habitat
This species is known to liv ...
''. He considered ''Ambigolimax'' as a subgenus of ''Agriolimax'' (now ''
Deroceras
''Deroceras'' is a taxonomic genus of small to medium-sized air-breathing land slugs in the family Agriolimacidae.
Description
Most species reach only 30–35 mm in length (max 45 mm). Coloration varies considerably within and ...
'') in the family
Agriolimacidae
''Agriolimacidae'' is a family of small and medium-sized land slugs, or shell-less snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks.
Distribution
Distribution of Limacidae is Holarctic, this include: Nearctic, western Palearctic and eastern P ...
. In 1926,
Hesse
Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
transferred it to become a subgenus of ''Lehmannia'' in the family
Limacidae
Limacidae, also known by their common name the keelback slugs, are a taxonomic family of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Limacoidea.
Distribution
The distributio ...
. Since about 2007 the increasing tendency has been to split ''Lehmannia'' s.l. into two genera, ''Lehmannia'' s.s. and ''Ambigolimax''. This splitting was based on the genetic evidence that the position of ''
Malacolimax
''Malacolimax'' is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Limacidae, the keelback slugs.
Species
Species within the genus ''Malacolimax'' include:
* '' Malacolimax mrazeki'' (Simroth, 1904)
* ...
'' in the
phylogenetic tree
A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA. In ...
makes ''Lehmannia'' s.l. a
paraphyletic
Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...