Limax montanus
| Limax montanus | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Limax montanus | ||||||||||||
| Leydig , 1871 |
Limax montanus is a slug -Art from the family of the slug (Limacidae) that the terrestrial snails belongs (gastropod). It is believed to be endemic to the Southern Alps.
features
Limax montanus is stretched out 9 to 10 centimeters long, very large specimens also exceptionally 13 to 15 cm. The elongation of the animals when they crawl around is very strong compared to other Limax species. The movements are very agile. The back is dull gray to or gray-brown with indistinct darker spots. The coat has cloud-like overgrown spots or is almost monochrome. In juvenile specimens (approx. 6 to 7 centimeters long) a slightly flesh-colored tint can be observed on the back. The spots on the mantle shield are a little more evident and there are weak longitudinal bands on the sides. The antennae are darker than the color of the back. The sole is uniformly whitish-yellow. The body mucus is colorless and not tough. The eggs are bright white and have no lime shell.
In the genital system, the penis is quite short, usually well below half the length of the body. The penile retractor muscle starts well in front of the apex of the penis, and the spermatic duct (vas deferens) opens in about the same position .
Similar species
The penis of Limax montanus is significantly shorter than the penis of the tiger's tail ( Limax maximus ) and is therefore the shortest penis of the large Limax species examined so far .
Geographical distribution and habitat
Dir Art has so far only been known from Razzes (market town of Castelrotto , Province of Bolzano , Region Trentino-South Tyrol ) on the edge of the Alpe di Siusi and from Caldonazzo ( Province of Trentino , Region Trentino-South Tyrol). The respective places are at approx. 1200 m or 500 m above sea level. However, the exact location and the exact height are not specified in the work. They are certainly higher because the communities mentioned have very large differences in altitude and the settlements themselves are in the valley. The animals were found under stones and in dead wood.
Way of life
Little is known about the way of life in the biotope . In captivity, they were fed cucumbers and carrots. Ulrich Gerhardt was able to document the copulation behavior. The three observed copulations took place in July, none could be observed in August. Field observations must show whether this is also the case in the biotope. The animals are almost exclusively nocturnal, copulations mostly took place at night, rarely also during the day (at least in captivity).
Copulation i. w. S. begins with the pursuit of an animal by another animal following the tip of the tail of the animal in front. After about 10 minutes to an hour of pursuit, the animal in front turns to the right and a circle is formed, usually on a vertical surface and at some height above the ground. The two partners crawl quickly in a circle for a while, each with their mouth on the tip of the tail, but then reduce the extension somewhat; they become significantly shorter and thicker. Then the upper body straighten up a little, which now perform oscillating, horizontal movements. The wrapping of the animals begins just a few minutes later. This is initially multiple, but later loosens again. They remain attached to the ground with the tips of their tails. No slime sail or thread of slime is formed. As soon as the animals have assumed the mating position, with their heads down and their heads approached, the short and thick penes turn out very quickly to a length of about 3 cm in seconds. Immediately during the eversion, they wrap themselves into a 3 cm long and 1 cm thick, rotating double spiral. The sperm packets migrate to the tip of the penis. After about a minute this spiral shortens to about 2 cm and the sperm packets emerge. The end lobes pick them up and transfer them to the other penis. After that, the shortening of the penes and the separation of the animals begins. The penes are withdrawn within seconds. There is no aftermath. Overall, copulation lasts i. e. S. only about two minutes, from circle formation to separation less than ten minutes.
Limax montanus belongs to the mode of copulation according to the Cinereoniger type. The attachment with the tips of the tails to the surface, the eversion and wrapping of the penes, the very rapid transfer of the sperm packets and the subsequent very rapid retraction of the penes and the relatively short duration of copulation (compared to other Limax species; there up to to 19 hours!). But there are also big differences. The penes are much shorter, no pine cone shape is formed after the sperm packets have been transferred and the actual copulation only takes two minutes compared to 20 to 38 minutes with Limax cinereoniger . The very short duration of the actual copulation is very reminiscent of the copulation of the beer snail ( Limacus flavus ). Mating takes only 15 to 30 seconds for this species, and the penis is very short. However, it differs in the incomplete wrapping of the penes and the almost missing wrapping of the body during copulation. Copulation also takes place on the earth or in the horizontal, more rarely on vertical surfaces.
Taxonomy
The taxon was first described by Franz Leydig in 1871 . The type material came from near "Razzes am Hauenstein", on the northern edge of the Alpe di Siusi ( South Tyrol , Italy). Due to the uniformly white sole of the foot, the species was very soon put into the synonymy of Limax albipes , a species with a white sole (species name!), But which is very poorly known. The type material of this kind comes from the Château de Bonneville (= "Château d'Anières" in the original publication) in Bonneville ( Haute-Savoie , France). Since then there have been no further descriptions of topotype material. Limax albipes is therefore currently considered a dubious species. Since Ulrich Gerhardt has made very detailed observations on copulation behavior and its specimens are identical to L. montanus , Clemens M. Brandstetter lists Limax montanus Leydig, 1871, as an independent species again.
Franz Leydig described the species in 1876 from sites north of the Alps ( Ramsau near Berchtesgaden , Herrenchiemsee Island , Tübingen and Milseberg near Brakel ). However, these specimens do not belong to L. montanus , but to Limax maximus .
There is still the younger homonym Limax montanus Ingersoll, 1875, which is a younger synonym of Deroceras (Deroceras) laeve (Müller, 1774).
supporting documents
literature
- Gerhardt, Ulrich 1938: On the question of sexual biology and species affiliation of Limax albipes Dumont and Mortillet (Limacidae, Pulmonata). Journal for Morphology and Ecology of Animals 34 (1): 79-88, Berlin doi : 10.1007 / BF00408212 .
- Leydig, Franz 1871. Contributions and remarks on the Wuerttemberg fauna with partial reference to other German regions. - Annual books of the Association for Patriotic Natural History in Württemberg 27: 199–271 Online at Biodiversity Heritage Library (p. 225).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nitz, B., Heim, R., Schneppat, UE, Hyman, I. & Haszprunar, G. 2009. Towards a new standard in slug species descriptions: the case of Limax sarnensis Heim & Nitz n. Sp. (Pulmonata: Limacidae) from the Western Central Alps. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 75 (3): 279-294 doi : 10.1093 / mollus / eyp030 .
- ↑ Gerhardt (1938: p. 79ff.)
- ↑ Limax gallery in alphabetical order - Clemens F. Brandstetter's website ( Memento of the original from 23 August 2011 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.
- ↑ Leydig, Franz The skin and shell of the gastropods together with an overview of the native Limacids. Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin 1876 Online at archive.org
- ↑ Terrestrial Slugs Web - Deroceras (Deroceras) laeve (Müller, 1774)
