''Geomalacus anguiformis'' 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, 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 mollusc in the 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 ...

, the round back slugs.

Distribution

This species occurs in south

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

(

Serra de Monchique The Serra de Monchique (Monchique Range) is a chain of mountains in the western part of the Algarve region of Portugal, about 20 km inshore. The chain's highest point is the peak of Fóia, at 902 m. 774 m high Picota is another notable pea ...

) and central

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

Description

The slug is dark grey with brown hue. It has lighter sides and two light colour bands with dark lower margins running along both sides of the

mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...

. Mantle is elliptical, extending to tentacles in anterior part. Tentacles are nearly black, thick and not very long. When crawling, the slug has not always a regularly cylindrical shape, there are depressions and dilatations. Sole is light creamy with darker medial zone, with yellowish or greenish hue. Mucus is yellow. ''Geomalacus anguiformis'' is 60 mm long (preserved 30 mm).

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

is elliptical, solid, upper side convex and lower side flat. The

reproductive system The reproductive system of an organism, also known as the genital system, is the biological system made up of all the anatomical organs involved in sexual reproduction. Many non-living substances such as fluids, hormones, and pheromones are al ...

is diagnostic feature: ''Geomalacus anguiformis'' has atrial diverticulum shorter than spermatheca duct while Kerry slug ''Geomalacus maculosus'' has atrial diverticulum longer than spermatheca duct. ''Geomalacus anguiformis'' has penis long, vas deferens very thin, spermatheca oval with long duct. ''Geomalacus anguiformis'' differs from ''

Geomalacus oliveirae ''Geomalacus oliveirae'' is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Arionidae, the round back slugs. Distribution Distribution of ''Geomalacus oliveirae'' include: * Portugal (Beira Alta) * ...

'' in its atriopenis inserting at the prolongation of the atrial long axis (not laterally).

Ecology

''Geomalacus anguiformis'' was found in olive plantations, under bark.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference."Species summary for ''Geomalacus anguiformis''"

AnimalBase AnimalBase is a project brought to life in 2004 and is maintained by the University of Göttingen, Germany. The goal of the AnimalBase project is to digitize early zoological literature, provide copyright-free open access to zoological works, and p ...

, last modified 3 December 2009, accessed 9 December 2010.

Distribution

Description

Ecology

References

Further reading