''Ariostralis nebulosa'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

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 sm ...

, 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, gastropod

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 es ...

in the family

Oopeltidae Oopeltidae is a family of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Arionoidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Subfamilies and genera The family Oopeltidae c ...

Distribution

This is a species of non-marine mollusc found in South Africa only.Sirgel, W. F.; Artigas, P.; Bargues, M. D.; Mas-Coma, S. (2012). "Life Cycle of ''Renylaima capensis'', a Brachylaimid Trematode of Shrews and Slugs in South Africa: Two-host and Three-host Transmission Modalities Suggested by Epizootiology and DNA Sequencing". ''

Parasites & Vectors ''Parasites & Vectors'' is a peer-reviewed open-access medical journal published by BioMed Central. The journal publishes articles on the biology of parasites, parasitic diseases, intermediate hosts, vectors and vector-borne pathogens. ''Parasit ...

'' 5: 169. .

Ecology

''A. nebulosa'' is readily found throughout the whole year. ''A. nebulosa'' serves as the first intermediate host for a parasite, the brachylaimid trematode '' Renylaima capensis''. Branched, cercariogenous sporocysts of this parasite massively develop in ''A. nebulosa''. These sporocysts are attached to the

hepatopancreas The hepatopancreas, digestive gland or midgut gland is an organ of the digestive tract of arthropods and molluscs. It provides the functions which in mammals are provided separately by the liver and pancreas, including the production of digesti ...

, body wall, pallial floor and even to the genital system. This fluke is highly specific at the first intermediate host level. The forest shrew (''Myosorex varius'') is a predator of ''A. nebulosa''. There is a possible direct infection of the shrew by the

cercariae Trematodes are parasitic flatworms of the class ''Trematoda'', specifically parasitic flukes with two suckers: one ventral and the other oral. Trematodes are covered by a tegument, that protects the organism from the environment by providing secre ...

of ''R. capensis''.

References

*This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from the reference "Life Cycle of ''Renylaima capensis''", by Sirgel, Artigas, Bargues & Mas-Coma, 2012. Endemic fauna of South Africa Oopeltidae Gastropods described in 1985 {{Heterobranchia-stub