Limax graecus

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Limax graecus
Limax graecus (from Simroth, 1889: Plate 1, Fig. 1)

Limax graecus (from Simroth, 1889: Plate 1, Fig. 1)

Systematics
Order : Lung snails (pulmonata)
Subordination : Land snails (Stylommatophora)
Family : Schnegel (Limacidae)
Subfamily : Limacinae
Genre : Limax
Type : Limax graecus
Scientific name
Limax graecus
Simroth , 1889

Limax graecus is a species of nudibranch from the family of snails (Limacidae), which belongs to the land snails (Stylommatophora).

features

In the preserved state, the animals are up to 9.5 cm long. The coat is about 35 mm long. The keel is very short at 10 mm. The skin is covered with fine wrinkles. There are 19 to 25 wrinkles between the midline and the breathing hole ( pseumostome ). The color is variable; there are both monochrome and patterned specimens. The basic color is beige to pinkish-cream, the pattern consists of black dots arranged more or less regularly in rows. In some specimens, black and white spots alternate. Other specimens have a gray or black basic color with light spots, while other specimens are completely monochrome gray to black. Completely dark or black specimens are particularly common in higher mountain areas, light specimens are more common in lower and above all warmer areas. The keel is usually the same color as the back, but is occasionally a little lighter. In all color morphs, the sole of the foot is light cream-colored, the slime colorless.

Genital apparatus of Limax graecus , vd = vas deferens, rp = retractor muscle, cp = blind sac of the penis

In the genital system, the penis is approximately 3/4 the length of the body in the adult stage. In juvenile specimens, it is even shorter (in relation to body length). The penis is twisted in on itself with a blind, hook-shaped, and gradually tapering end. In the case of preserved specimens or during preparation, however, this blind end can still be turned inside out; the blind end seems to be missing in such specimens and can lead to confusion with other species. The retractor muscle starts at about 1/7 the length of the penis (viewed from the end). The spermatic duct opens into the penis significantly further towards the blind end. The longitudinal fold in the penis begins at the blind end.

Geographical distribution, habitat and way of life

According to Wiktor (2001), the distribution area extends from Romania via the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria to Greece, in the south to the Peloponnese , Kythira and in the southeast to Euboea . The species has recently also been detected in Albania. However, the scope of the taxon is still very uncertain, and the distribution area may change accordingly in the future. The original distribution area was probably limited to northern and central Greece. The specimens of Limax cf. graecus described from southeast Italy probably belong to a different species.

Limax graecus lives in different types of deciduous forests, mixed forests, bushland and parks. In Greece the species rises in the mountains up to 1000 m, in southern Bulgaria it was found up to 1200 m.

Taxonomy and nomenclature

The taxonomy and nomenclature of this species is extremely complicated and ultimately not yet fully clarified. The name was introduced into literature by Heinrich Simroth in 1889. Its specimens came from the "Korax Mountains" ( Giona ) in the Central Greece region , a mountain range west of the Parnassus . As early as 1886, however, Oskar Boettger described two varieties from Mount Ossa in Thessaly (Greece) as Limax (Heynemannia) maximus L. var. Carbonaria and Limax (Heynemannia) maximus L. var. Submaculata . Both taxa are available as species group taxa. Unfortunately, Oskar Boettger did not describe the genital morphology of these two varieties, and the types are probably lost. It is therefore completely unclear what Oskar Boettger meant by these varieties. Limax (Heynemannia) maximus L. var. Carbonaria was subsequently z. T. with Limax cephalonicus , e.g. T. also associated with L. graecus . This name is considered by Wiktor (2001) as a questionable older synonym of Limax cephalonicus , and could possibly be the valid name of this species. Wagner (1934), on the other hand, considered Limax graecus to be a younger synonym of Limax carbonarius . According to Jaeckel (1954) L. graecus is a subspecies of L. carbonarius . Another species that was mostly synonymous with L. graecus is Limax macedonicus Hesse, 1928 and the variety Limax macedonicus var. Leucopus Hesse, 1928. Christina Frank reverses the priority and places the older Limax graecus Simroth, 1889 in the synonymy of the younger name Limax macedonicus . Reasons are not given. It is also uncertain which taxon the "Rabenschnegel ( Limax carbonarius )" by Rosina Fechter and Gerhard Falkner referred to, the German name (Rabenschnegel), according to the Limax graecus, which comes from the "Korax Mountains" . The specimen shown came from the Greek region of Macedonia and could therefore also belong to Limax macedonicus . Ruud Bank , on the other hand, places L. macedonicus in the synonymy of L. graecus . The "Fauna Europaea" follows this view. It will probably be reserved for future investigations (morphology, DNA and sexual biology) on topotype material to unravel this taxonomic and nomenclature problem.

Limax taygetes Grateloup, 1855, another possible older synonym, is considered a forgotten name by most authors.

supporting documents

literature

  • Boettger, Oskar 1885: List of the gastropods collected in Thessaly. Yearbooks of the German Malacoological Society, 12: 158–200, Frankfurt / M. Online at archive.org
  • Simroth, Heinrich 1889: The Mr. E. v. Oertzen in Greece collected nudibranchs. Treatises of the Senckenbergische Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, 16: 3–27, Frankfurt / M.
  • Wiktor, Andrzej 2001: Fauna Graeciae. VIII. The slugs of Greece (Arionidae, Milacidae, Limacidae, Agriolimacidae - Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). 240 p., Natural History Museum of Crete & Hellenic Zoologic Society, Heraklion, Crete
  • Ferreri, Dario, Bodon, Marco & Giuseppe Manganelli 2005: Molluschi terrestri della provincia di Lecce. Thalassia Salentina, 28: 31-130, Lecce. doi : 10.1285 / i15910725v28p31

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fehér, Zóltan & Zóltan Péter Erőss 2009: Checklist of the Albanian mollusc fauna. Schriften zur Malakozoologie, 25: 22–38, Cismar / Ostholstein PDF ( Memento of the original from August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nhmus.hu
  2. ↑ a b c d Wiktor (2001: pp. 71–76)
  3. ↑ Natura Mediterraneo - Limax cf. graecus
  4. ↑ AnimalBase - Limax graecus
  5. ↑ Wagner, H. 1934: The Nudibranchs of the Royal Natural History Museum in Sofia. Messages from the Royal Scientific Institutes in Sofia, 7: 51–60, Sofia (UB!).
  6. ^ Wagner, H. 1940: New contributions to the knowledge of the nudibranch fauna of the Balkan Peninsula, with special consideration of the Greek species. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici, Pars Zoologica, 33: 137–152, Budapest (Botanical Garden).
  7. ↑ Jaeckel, S. sen. 1954: On the systematics and faunistics of the mollusks of the northern Balkan peninsula. Messages from the Zoological Museum in Berlin, 30: 54–95, Berlin. (UB!)
  8. ↑ Christina Frank 1988: About molluscs from the islands of Chios, Crete and Cyprus as well as from the Greek mainland (Thessaly). Reports of the Natural Science and Medical Association in Innsbruck, 75: 81–90, Innsbruck (p. 84) ISSN  0379-1416 PDF
  9. ^ Rosina Fechter and Gerhard Falkner: Molluscs. 287 p., Mosaik-Verlag, Munich 1990 (Steinbach's Nature Guide 10) ISBN 3-570-03414-3 (p. 190)
  10. ^ Ruud A. Bank: Fauna Europaea Project Checklist of the land and freshwater Gastropoda of Romania. PDF ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nmbe.ch
  11. ↑ Fauna Europaea - Limax graecus
  12. ↑ Reischütz, L. Peter 1985: Localities of some types of nudibranchs in Greece. Announcements of the Zoological Society Braunau, 4: 303, Braunau PDF

On-line

annotation

  1. ↑ According to the New Pauly (under Parnassos), it is a mountain range west of the pass between Gravia and Amphissa and east of the Lidoriki and Stromi road in central Greece. The current name of the mountain range is Giona .

Web links

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