Prophysaon
Genus of gastropods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prophysaon, common name taildropper slugs, is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Ariolimacidae.[2]
| Prophysaon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Prophysaon andersonii | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Infraorder: | Arionoidei |
| Superfamily: | Arionoidea |
| Family: | Ariolimacidae |
| Genus: | Prophysaon Bland & W. G. Binney, 1873[1] |
| Synonyms | |
| |
These slugs can self-amputate (autotomy) a portion of their tail,[3] a behavior observed in the species Prophysaon andersonii.[4]
Distribution
This genus of slugs occurs in North America, including California and Oregon.
Species
Species in the genus Prophysaon include 10 species (9 according to Turgeon et al. 1998[5][6] plus one known undescribed species[3]):
- Prophysaon andersonii (J. G. Cooper, 1872) - reticulate taildropper, Anderson's taildropper slug
- Prophysaon boreale Pilsbry, 1948 - northern taildropper
- Prophysaon coeruleum Cockerell, 1890 - blue-gray taildropper
- Prophysaon dubium Cockerell, 1890 - papillose taildropper
- Prophysaon fasciatum Cockerell in W. G. Binney - banded taildropper
- Prophysaon foliolatum (Gould, 1851) - yellow-bordered taildropper
- Prophysaon humile Cockerell, 1890 - smoky taildropper
- Prophysaon obscurum (Cockerell, 1890) - mottled taildropper
- Prophysaon vanattae Pilsbry, 1948 - scarlet-backed taildropper
- Prophysaon vanattae var. pardalis
- Prophysaon undescribed species from Siskiyou County, California.[3][7]
- Species brought into synonymy
- Prophysaon flavum Cockerell, 1890: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)
- Prophysaon hemphilli Bland & W. G. Binney, 1873: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)
- Prophysaon pacificum Cockerell, 1890: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)