Limacidae, also known by their

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the keelback slugs, are a

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

family of medium-sized to very large, 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 smal ...

s, terrestrial

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...

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 ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

s in the superfamily

Limacoidea Limacoidea is a taxonomic superfamily of medium-sized to large, air-breathing land slugs and snails. They are terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the infraorder Stylommatophora (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet ...

Distribution

The distribution of the family Limacidae is the western

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

. There are 28 species of Limacidae in Russia and adjacent countries.

Anatomy

In this family, the number of

haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

chromosomes lies between 21 and 25 and also lies between 31 and 35 (according to the values in this table).Barker G. M.: Gastropods on Land: ''Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology''. in Barker G. M. (ed.):
The biology of terrestrial molluscs
'. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, . 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.

Taxonomy

2002 taxonomy

Zhiltsov & Schileyko (2002) Zhiltsov S. S. & Schileyko A. A. (2002). "Morphology of reproductive system of ''Bielzia coerulans'' (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) and phylogenetic relations of the genus ''Bielzia''". ''Ruthenica'' 12: 73-79
abstract
elevated the subfamily Bielziinae to family level, Bielziidae, based on the morphology of the reproductive system of ''

Bielzia coerulans ''Bielzia coerulans'', commonly known as the Carpathian blue slug or simply the blue slug, is a species of very large land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod in the family Limacidae, the keelback slugs. Taxonomy ''Bielzia coerulans'' wa ...

''.

2005 taxonomy

The following two

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005): * subfamily Limacinae Lamarck, 1801 - synonyms: Limacopsidae Gerhardt, 1935; Bielziinae I. M. Likharev & Wiktor, 1980 * subfamily Eumilacinae I. M. Likharev & Wiktor, 1980

Genera

Genera in the family Limacidae include: subfamily Limacinae * '' Limax'' Linnaeus, 1758 - type genus of the family Limacidae * ''

Limacus ''Limacus'' is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Limacidae, the short-keeled slugs. MolluscaBase (2019). MolluscaBase. Limacus Lehmann, 1864. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...

'' Lehmann, 1864; sometimes considered a subgenus of ''Limax'' * ''Bielzia'' Clessin, 1887 - with the only species ''

'' M. Bielz, 1851. Some authors, for example Russian malacologists, classify genus ''Bielzia'' within separate family Limacopsidae. * '' Caspilimax'' P. Hesse, 1926Kantor Yu I., Vinarski M. V., Schileyko A. A. & Sysoev A. V.(published online on December 22, 2009). "Catalogue of the continental mollusks of Russia and adjacent territories"
Version 2.3.
/ref> * '' Caucasolimax'' Likharev et Wiktor, 1980 * ''

Gigantomilax ''Gigantomilax'' is a genus of gastropods belonging to the family Limacidae. The species of this genus are found in Mediterranean and Western Asia. Species: *''Gigantomilax benjaminus'' *''Gigantomilax borschomensis'' *''Gigantomilax brunneu ...

'' O. Boettger, 1883 ** ''

Gigantomilax csikii ''Gigantomilax'' is a genus of gastropods belonging to the family Limacidae. The species of this genus are found in Mediterranean and Western Asia. Species: *''Gigantomilax benjaminus'' *''Gigantomilax borschomensis'' *''Gigantomilax brunne ...

'' Soós, 1924 ** ''

Gigantomilax lederi ''Gigantomilax'' is a genus of gastropods belonging to the family Limacidae. The species of this genus are found in Mediterranean and Western Asia. Species: *'' Gigantomilax benjaminus'' *'' Gigantomilax borschomensis'' *'' Gigantomilax brunn ...

'' (Boettger, 1883) ** ''

Gigantomilax majoricensis ''Gigantomilax'' is a genus of gastropods belonging to the family Limacidae. The species of this genus are found in Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almos ...

'' (Heynemann, 1863)Wiktor A., Quintana J. & Beckmann K.-H. (2007). "Redescription of "''Limax majoricensis''" (Heynemann 1863) (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Limacidae) from the Balearic Islands. pp. 187-197. In: Beckmann K.-H.: ''Die Land- und Süßwassermollusken der Balearischen Inseln''. ConchBooks, Hackenheim, 255 pp., . * ''

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 ''Ambigolimax'' is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the family Limacidae, the keelback slugs. There is still ongoing disagreement whether it is more appropriate to consider ''Ambigolimax'' as merely a subgenus of ''Lehmannia''; the eviden ...

'' Pollonera, 1887,Marshall, B. (2015). ''Ambigolimax'' Pollonera, 1887. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=819989 on 2015-04-15; sometimes considered a subgenus of ''Lehmannia'' * '' Limacopsis'' Simroth, 1888 * ''

Malacolimax ''Malacolimax'' is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Limacidae Limacidae, also known by their common name the keelback slugs, are a taxonomic family of medium-sized to very large, a ...

'' Malm, 1868 * '' Turcomilax'' Simroth, 1901 subfamily Eumilacinae * '' Eumilax'' O. Boettger, 1881 - type genus of the subfamily Eumilacinae ** '' Eumilax brandti'' (Martens, 1880) * '' Metalimax'' Simroth, 1896

Cladogram

A cladogram showing the phylogenic relationships of this family to other families within the limacoid clade:Hausdorf B. (2000). "Biogeography of the Limacoidea sensu lato (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora): Vicariance Events and Long-Distance Dispersal". ''

Journal of Biogeography The ''Journal of Biogeography'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in biogeography that was established in 1974. It covers aspects of spatial, ecological, and historical biogeography. The founding editor-in-chief was David Watts, followed by J ...

'' 27(2): 379-390.
JSTOR

Ecology

Parasites of slugs in this family include larvae of the marsh flies Sciomyzidae, and others.

References

External links

Slugs of Florida
on the UF /

IFAS IFAS may refer: * Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences * Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge, a sewage treatment process * International French adjectival system In rock climbing, mountaineering, and other climbing disciplines, clim ...

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