Ambigolimax melitensis
Species of gastropod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ambigolimax melitensis is a species of air-breathing land slug, a pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Limacidae[2].
| Ambigolimax melitensis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ambigolimax melitensis from Sicily | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Superfamily: | Limacoidea |
| Family: | Limacidae |
| Genus: | Ambigolimax |
| Species: | A. melitensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ambigolimax melitensis | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
The formal species description[1] copies an inadequate description by Arturo Issel of juveniles collected at the main gate of Valletta on Malta. Fortunately, one of the authors, Carlo Pollonera, subsequently published a more informative description of a specimen from this type locality, including a figure of the genitalia.[3] The distinctive character is the long flagellum on the penis. The external appearance can be a uniform pale ash-grey, as specified in the original description, but the species can also be brown with prominent darker stripes on the mantle and back, indistinguishable from other Ambigolimax species. Length up to 70 mm. As with other limacid slugs, the tail is pointed and the pneumostome lies in the hind part of the mantle. [4]
Taxonomy
The species has at different times been placed in the genera Limax, Malacolimax, and Lehmannia as well as in its own monotypic subgenus Melitolimax.[3] DNA sequences were necessary to prove that it belongs in the genus Ambigolimax and is most closely related to Ambigolimax parvipenis.[5]
Distribution
The distribution of this species includes Malta and Italy (Sicily, Aeolian Islands, Sardinia, and the Tuscan Archipelago).[6] It also has been found in Tunisia and Algeria.[7][8]
