Veronicellidae

The Veronicellidae, also known by their common name the leatherleaf slugs, are a family of pulmonate terrestrial slugs.

Leatherleaf slugs
Live individual of Veronicella sloanei
Live individual of Laevicaulis alte
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Systellommatophora
Superfamily: Veronicelloidea
Family: Veronicellidae
(Gray, 1840)[1]
Type genus
Veronicella
Genera

See text

Synonyms
  • Vaginulidae (Martens, 1866)
  • Meisenheimeriinae (Hoffmann, 1925)
  • Sarasinulinae (Hoffmann, 1925)
  • Semperulinae (Hoffmann, 1925)
  • Imeriniinae (Hoffmann, 1928)
  • Pseudoverocinellinae (Hoffmann, 1928)

The herbivorous molluscs occur mainly in the tropical and subtropical areas of America, Asia and Africa.

They act as intermediate hosts of the rat lung worm Angiostrongylus costaricensis, and act as a vector for other human diseases. They also cause significant damage to crops.[2]

Description

The dorsal surface of these slugs is entirely covered by the mantle or hyponota. These mollusks have a posterior located anus, eyes on contractile (not retractile) tentacles, and no lung or pulmonary organ. In these aspects they are anatomically distinct from most other types of terrestrial slugs, which typically belong to the order Stylommatophora, and which have a forward located anus, and retractile tentacles.

The closely related members of the family Onchidiidae differ from the Veronicellidae by having a pulmonary sac, or lung.[3][4][5]

Distribution

Members of the family can be found in the Central African Republic, Kenya, Cameroon, tropical West Africa, Mexico,[6] the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thailand, southern Asia, southern China, Taiwan, Cuba, the Highland Rainforests of Puerto Rico,[7] Florida, Dominica,[8] Hawaii,[9] the islands of the Indian Ocean, Australia, Samoa and Guyana.[10]

Life cycle

Some species of Veronicellidae bear live young.

Genera

The Veronicellidae family has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

Genera within the family Veronicellidae include:

References

  1. Gray J. E. (1840). Synopsis of the contents of the British Museum, ed. 42, p. 126, p. 149.
  2. Speiser, B (2002). "Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland" (PDF). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Palaeos Metazoa: Mollusca: Pulmonata: Systellommatophora". Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2007. Systellommatophora at Palaeos
  4. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=78765 Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Veronicellidae
  5. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Veronicellidae.html Univ. Michigan Animal Diversity: Veronicellidae
  6. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/425/42578104.pdf
  7. (in Spanish) Aguayo C. G. (1965). "Sobre el status de Veronicella portoricensis (Mollusca Pulmonata)". Caribbean Journal of Science 5(1-2): 25-28. PDF Archived October 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. Robinson D. G., Hovestadt A., Fields A. & Breure A. S. H. (July 2009). "The land Mollusca of Dominica (Lesser Antilles), with notes on some enigmatic or rare species". Zoologische Mededelingen 83 http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/83/nr03/a13
  9. "Comprehensive Report Species - Laevicaulis alte".
  10. Baker, H. Burrington (1926). "Veronicellidae from British Guiana". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 78: 29–34. JSTOR 4063950.
  11. "Veronicellidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  12. Thomé J. W., dos Santos P. H. & Pedott L. (1997). "Annotated list of Veronicellidae from the collections of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the National Museum of Natural History". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 110(4): 520-536.
  13. (in Spanish) Pérez A. M., Sotelo M., Arana I. & López A. (2008). "Diversidad de moluscos gasterópodos terrestres en la región del Pacífico de Nicaragua y sus preferencias de hábitat". Rev. Biol. Trop. 56(1): 317-332,. PDF
  14. Wai Hoong, Ho (1995). "A Review Of The Land Snail Fauna Of Singapore". The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 43 (1): 91–113.
  15. Naranjo-García E., Thomé J. W. & Castillejo J. (2007). "A review of the Veronicellidae from Mexico (Gastropoda: Soleolifera). Revisión de los Veronicellidae de México (Gastropoda: Soleolifera)". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 78: 41-50."
  16. WoRMS (2010). Simrothula Thomé, 1975. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=456517 on 2010-03-31
  17. Maceira F., David (2003). "Las especies de la familia Veronicellidae (Mollusca, Soleolifera) en Cuba" (PDF). Rev. Biol. Trop. 51 (3): 453–461. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  18. WoRMS (2009). Vaginula rodericensis Smith, 1876. Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=214679 on 2010-03-31
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