''Limax'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of air-breathing land
slug
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, 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 ...
s in the
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 inclu ...
gastropod
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
mollusk
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
family
Limacidae.
The generic name ''Limax'' literally means "slug".
Some species, such as the
leopard slug (''L. maximus''), are beneficial for the garden.
The genus ''Limax'' ''
sensu stricto
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...
'' is probably
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
.
[Klee, B. 200]
Towards a phylogeny of ''Limax'' (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)''.
''The Malacologist''. Molluscan Forum 2006.
Distribution
This genus is native to
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, but at least one species (''L. maximus'') has been introduced into
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
.
Species
The genus ''Limax'' includes at least 33 species:
Species in genus ''Limax''
AnimalBase. Accessed 5 May 2009.
* '' Limax aeolianus'' Giusti, 1973
* '' Limax albipes'' Dumont & Mortillet, 1853
* '' Limax amaliae'' Bettoni, 1870
* '' Limax bielzii'' Seibert, 1873
* '' Limax brandstetteri'' Falkner, 2008[Falkner, G. (2008)]
''Limax (Limax) brandstetteri'' n. sp. – ein neuer Hochgebirgsschnegel aus den Abruzzen (Gastropoda: Limacidae). ''Limax (Limax) brandstetteri'' n. sp. – a new high mountain slug from the Abruzzi Mountains (Gastropoda: Limacidae).
'' Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde A'', Neue Serie. 1: 133-142.
* '' Limax camerani'' Lessona & Pollonera, 1882
* '' Limax canapicianus'' Pollonera, 1885
* '' Limax cephalonicus'' Simroth, 1886
* '' Limax ciminensis'' Pollonera, 1890
* '' Limax cinereoniger'' Wolf, 1803 (syn. ''Limax alpinus'' Férussac, 1822)[Nitz, B., et al. (2009). Towards a new standard in slug species descriptions: the case of ''Limax sarnensis'' Heim & Nitz n. sp. (Pulmonata: Limacidae) from the Western Central Alps. '']Journal of Molluscan Studies
The ''Journal of Molluscan Studies'' is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the Malacological Society of London, covering research in malacology. '' 75(3): 279-294. .
* '' Limax conemenosi'' Böttger, 1882
* '' Limax corsicus'' Moquin-Tandon, 1855
* '' Limax dacampi'' Menegazzi, 1854
** ''Limax dacampi dacampi'' Menegazzi, 1855
* '' Limax dobrogicus'' Grossu & Lupu, 1960
*'' Limax doriae'' Bourguignat, 1861
* '' Limax engadinensis'' Heynemann, 1863
* '' Limax erythrus'' Bourguignat, 1864
* '' Limax gerhardti'' Niethammer, 1937
* '' Limax giovannellae'' Falkner & Niederhöfer, 2008
* '' Limax giustii'' Falkner & Nitz, 2010
* '' Limax graciadeii'' Gerhardt, 1940
* '' Limax graecus'' Simroth, 1889
* '' Limax granosus'' Bérenguier, 1900
* '' Limax hemmeni'' Rähle, 1983
* '' Limax ianninii'' Giusti, 1973
* '' Limax ilvensis'' Falkner & Nitz, 2010
* '' Limax lachensis'' Bérenguier, 1900
* '' Limax luctuosus'' Moquin-Tandon, 1855
* '' Limax maximus'' Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
, 1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...
- great grey slug
* '' Limax millipunctatus'' Pini, 1885
* '' Limax monolineatus'' Bettoni, 1870
* '' Limax monregalensis'' Lessona & Pollonera, 1882
* '' Limax pironae'' Pini, 1876
* '' Limax polipunctatus'' Pollonera, 1888
* '' Limax punctulatus'' Sordelli, 1871
* '' Limax redii'' Gerhardt, 1933
* '' Limax samensis'' Heim & Nitz, 2009[
* '' Limax squamosus'' Bérenguier, 1900
* '' Limax strobeli'' Pini, 1876
* '' Limax subalpinus'' Lessona, 1880
* '' Limax tschapecki'' Simroth, 1886
* '' Limax veronensis'' Lessona & Pollonera, 1882
* '' Limax vizzavonensis'' Falkner & Nitz, 2010
* '' Limax wohlberedti'' Simroth, 1900
* '' Limax wolterstorffi'' Simroth, 1900
* '' Limax zilchi'' Grossu & Lupu, 1960
]
Subgenus ''Limacus'' (more often today treated as its own genus)
* ''Limax ecarinatus'' Boettger, 1881: synonym of '' Limacus maculatus'' (Kaleniczenko, 1851)
* ''Limax flavus'' Linnaeus, 1758 yellow garden slug, tawny garden slug: synonym of '' Limacus flavus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
* ''Limax marginatus'' Müller, 1774 is a synonym for '' Lehmannia marginata'' (Müller, 1774)
* ''Limax valentianus'' Férussac, 1822 is a synonym for '' Ambigolimax valentianus'' (Férussac, 1822)
* ''Limax nyctelius'' Bourguignat, 1861 is now placed in the genus '' Letourneuxia'' but the name has been used for '' Lehmannia carpatica'' (Bourguignat, 1861) and '' Ambigolimax waterstoni'' Hutchinson, Reise & Schlitt, 2022
References
{{Authority control
Limacidae
Gastropod genera
Agricultural pest molluscs
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus