Bielzia coerulans
| Bielzia coerulans | |
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| Bielzia coerulans | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
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clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Eupulmonata clade Stylommatophora informal group Sigmurethra clade limacoid clade |
| Superfamily: | |
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| Genus: |
Bielzia
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| Species: |
B. coerulans
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| Binomial name | |
| Bielzia coerulans |
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| Synonyms[3] | |
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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 was discovered in 1847 and described under the name Limax coerulans by Austrian-Hungarian malacologist, Michael Bielz (1787-1866), in 1851. (His son Eduard Albert Bielz was also a malacologist.)
Bielzia coerulans is the only species in the genus Bielzia.[4]
Some authors, for example Russian malacologists,[3] classify genus Bielzia as the only genus (monotypic) within the separate family, Limacopsidae.[3][5] There is also a separate subfamily, Bielziinae, for genus Bielzia (I. M. Likharev & Wiktor, 1980).
According to the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), Limacopsidae and Bielziinae are synonyms for Limacinae.[6]
Distribution
This species is endemic to the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe.
The type locality of Bielzia coerulans is South Carpathians in Romania.[3]
- Czech Republic - in Moravia only, vulnerable (VU) in Moravia[7][8]
- Southern Poland[4]
- Slovakia[9]
- Ukraine[3]
- Romania[3]
- Hungary
- Turkey (Kaçkar Mountains, Rize Province)[10]
- Germany (presumed introduction in Westerwald, Rhineland-Palatinate, discovered 2012)[11]
Description
This slug turns blue when an adult and becomes 100 – 140 mm in length.[12] It is evenly blue or bluish green (occasionally black) with a dark greyish head and tentacles, and margins pale yellowish, sole pale yellowish or whitish.[12]
Juveniles are yellowish brown with dark lateral bands.[12]
Reproductive system: Genitalia are without penis.[12] There is only an accessory organ for copulation.[12]
Ecology
Bielzia coerulans inhabits deciduous and coniferous forests in mountains, usually at the bottom, or under dead wood logs.[12]
Maturity is in June to July.[12] Copulation occurs at the soil.[12] There are 30-80 eggs laid in one clutch.[12] Adults die after egg deposition.[12] Half grown juveniles hibernate.[12] Fully grown slugs appear in May.[12]
References
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[12]
- ↑ (German) Clessin S. (1887). "Die Molluskenfauna Österreich-Ungarns und der Schweiz". pp. 1-858. Nürnberg. (Bauer & Raspe). page 47.
- ↑ (German) Bielz M. (1851). "Verzeichniss der Land- und Süsswasser-Mollusken Siebenbürgens". Verhandlungen und Mittheilungen des Siebenbürgischen Vereins für Naturwissenschaften in Hermannstadt 2: 14-16, 55-59, 62-65. (Limax coerulans is on the page 14.)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Kantor 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.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 (Polish) Wiktor A. (1989). Limacoidea et Zonitoidea nuda. Slimaki pomrowioksztaltne (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora). Fauna Poloniae 12, Polska Akademia Nauk, Warszawa, 208 pp., page 178-181.
- ↑ (German) Gerhardt U. (16 July 1935). "Weitere Untersuchungen zur Kopulation der Nacktschnecken". Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Ökologie der Tiere 30(2): 297-332. Page 329.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L. (2001). "Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic". Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem. 65: 25-40.
- ↑ "Red List of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic". accessed 9 September 2010.
- ↑ Lisický M. J. (1991). Mollusca Slovenska. Veda, Bratislava: 1-341.
- ↑ http://archersofokcular.com/blue-heaven/
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 "Species summary for Bielzia coerulans". AnimalBase, last modified 29 October 2009, accessed 9 September 2010.
External links
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