Prophysaon, common name taildropper slugs, is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Ariolimacidae.[2]
| Prophysaon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Prophysaon andersoni | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Infraorder: | Arionoidei |
| Superfamily: | Arionoidea |
| Family: | Ariolimacidae |
| Genus: | Prophysaon Bland & W. G. Binney, 1873[1] |
| Synonyms | |
| |
These slugs can self-amputate (autotomy) a portion of their tail.[3] This autotomy has been observed in the species Prophysaon andersoni.[4]
Distribution
editThis genus of slugs occurs in North America, including California and Oregon.
Species
editSpecies in the genus Prophysaon include 10 species (9 according to Turgeon et al. 1998[5][6] plus one known undescribed species[3]):
- Prophysaon andersoni (J. G. Cooper, 1872) - Reticulate Taildropper, Anderson's Taildropper Slug
- Prophysaon boreale Pilsbry, 1948 - Northern Taildropper
- Prophysaon coeruleum Cockerell, 1890 - Blue-Gray Taildropper
- Prophysaon dubium Cockerell, 1890 - Papillose Taildropper
- Prophysaon fasciatum Cockerell in W. G. Binney - Banded Taildropper
- Prophysaon foliolatum (Gould, 1851) - Yellow-bordered Taildropper
- Prophysaon humile Cockerell, 1890 - Smoky Taildropper
- Prophysaon obscurum (Cockerell, 1890) - Mottled Taildropper
- Prophysaon vanattae Pilsbry, 1948 - Scarlet-backed Taildropper
- Prophysaon vanattae var. pardalis
- Prophysaon undescribed species from Siskiyou County, California.[3][7]
- Species brought into synonymy
- Prophysaon flavum Cockerell, 1890: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)
- Prophysaon hemphilli Bland & W. G. Binney, 1873: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)
- Prophysaon pacificum Cockerell, 1890: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)
References
edit- ^ Bland, Thomas; Binney, W. G. (1873). "On Prophysaon, a New Pulmonate Mollusk, on Ariolimax, on Helix Lymnuchus and Other Species". Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 10: 293.
- ^ MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Prophysaon Bland & W.G. Binney, 1873. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=995729 on 2021-08-26
- ^ a b c Rory J. Mc Donnel, Timothy D. Paine & Michael J. Gormally. 2009. Slugs: A Guide to the Invasive and Native Fauna of California Archived 2011-07-04 at the Wayback Machine. 21 pp., ISBN 978-1-60107-564-2. page 9
- ^ Hand, C., and W.M. Ingram. 1950. Natural history observations on Prophysaon andersoni (J.G. Cooper) with special reference to amputation. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 49: 15-28.
- ^ Thomas E. Burke. MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TERRESTRIAL MOLLUSK SPECIES Prophysaon coeruleum, Blue-Gray Taildropper & Prophysaon dubium, Papillose Taildropper http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/surveyandmanage/MR/TM4Species/2000-015_3.pdf
- ^ ITIS accessed 17 January 2009.
- ^ Roth B. & Sadeghian P. S. 2006. Checklist of the Land Snails and Slugs of California. Contributions in Science 3. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, California. 82 pp.
External links
edit- information about Prophysaon andersoni: http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/cbasin/molluscs/arionidae.html
- Wilke T. & Duncan N. 2004. Phylogeographical patterns in the American Pacific Northwest: lessons from the arionid slug Prophysaon coeruleum. Molecular Ecology, volume 13, issue 8, pages 2303–2315.
- Prophysaon sp. 1 A Terrestrial Slug. NatureServe Explorer.