''Ambigolimax valentianus'' (also known as ''Lehmannia valentiana'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of 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 the appropriate s ...

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 smal ...

, 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 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 ...

mollusk in the family Limacidae.

Description

Ambigolimax_valentianus_genitalia_Cambridge

'' External appearance does not reliably distinguish ''Ambigolimax valentianus'' from other members of the genus, such as '' A. parvipenis'', with which it may co-occur. Like other members of the Limacidae, it has a pointed tail and the pneumostome lies in the posterior half 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 ...

. Often the most obvious character of an ''Ambigolimax'' slug is the two parallel, sharply defined, dark lines along the mantle, sometimes with a thicker less well defined line lying between. Two similar lines may lie more posteriorly along the back either side of the midline, but all these lines may be faint or even absent in some individuals. Others have further dots and mottled patches of darker pigment. The dorsal coloration is most often pinkish brown, but sometimes dull yellowish or grey, and all shades inbetween. A Japanese study reported that older individuals tended to be yellower with less prominent lines but more prominent mottling. The mucus is colourless, transparent, and watery. Maximum length is about 8 cm. ''Ambigolimax valentianus'' is identifiable from the internal genitalia, which require dissection to examine. In particular it has a substantial sausage-shaped penial appendage at the inner end of the penis; rarely the appendage is swollen towards its tip. Sometimes the appendage appears absent because it is inverted into the lumen of the penis. This might cause confusion with ''A. parvipenis'' but the penis of ''A. valentianus'' without the appendage is about as long as the bursa copulatrix and its duct, whereas it is only about half the length in ''A. parvipenis''.

Distribution

This species has been recorded widely around the world including in: * Spain: since 1823 * Portugal: since 1891 * France: since 1954 * Belgium: since 1946 (greenhouse), 1973 (outdoors) * Great Britain: since 1936 (greenhouses) * Island of Ireland: since 1932 * Germany: since 1952 * Denmark: since 1959 * Sweden: since 1921 (greenhouses) * Czech Republic as a "hothouse alien" * Poland: since 1963 * Slovakia: since 2020 * Serbia: since 2010 (indoor garden) * Malta: since 1986 * Canary Islands: since 1950 * Azores: since 1957 * Algeria: since 19th century * South Africa: since 1961 * Turkey: since 2017 *

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Wiktor A., De-niu C. & Wu M. (2000). "Stylommatophoran slugs of China (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) – prodromus". ''Folia Malacologica'' 8(1): 3-35. * Japan: since late1950s * USA: since 1917 (greenhouses); California, Colorado, Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, New York State, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Maryland * Colombia: since 1963 * Chile: since 1893 * Juan Fernandez Islands: since 1908 * Easter Island: since 1917 * Australia: since 1911 * New Zealad: since 1979

References

External links

Species summary for ''Lehmannia valentiana''
at Animalbase: taxonomy, short description, distribution, biology, status (threats), images
''Lehmannia valentiana''
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 ...

Featured Creatures Web site valentianus Gastropods described in 1822 {{Limacidae-stub