Sarner Schnegel

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Sarner Schnegel
Systematics
Order : Lung snails (pulmonata)
Subordination : Land snails (Stylommatophora)
Superfamily : Limacoidea
Family : Schnegel (Limacidae)
Genre : Limax
Type : Sarner Schnegel
Scientific name
Limax sarnensis
Heim & Nitz , 2009

The Sarner Schnegel ( Limax sarnensis ) is a slug from the family of the Schnegel (Limacidae) within the land snail (Stylommatophora). According to the illustration in the original description, the snail was first found in Sarnen in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland on October 3, 1999 by René Heim and therefore received its name. The snail is found in the Swiss Central Alps as far as the neighboring Alpine region of northern Italy and can be up to 25 cm long and 50 g in weight. It was briefly described as the largest organism that had been rediscovered in Central Europe for decades. She was also reported in the Swiss media.

In 2011, this representation was contradicted in a study in which it was shown that the large and conspicuous nudibranch was discovered by the Swiss naturalist Samuel Studer as early as 1820 and described by Férussac as Limax alpinus in 1822 . This had also been seen in other publications before. In the same publication, however, the authors of the description of Limax sarnensis had ensured, by means of a neotype determination that was not coordinated with the other colleagues , that Limax alpinus had to be referred to as a younger synonym of an externally similar different species in the future, and so had the The way paved for a new description of Limax sarnensis .

features

When fully grown, the Sarner Schnegel can reach a length of 25 cm and weigh up to 50 grams, making it the largest land slug species in Europe. The snail comes in many different variations. It can be black, brown with a black pattern or whitish. The front part - the coat - is monochrome, the rest is usually patterned.

Occurrence and way of life

The Sarner Schnegel lives in alpine forests. The species has been documented in Switzerland in Central Switzerland , in the Canton of Graubünden , in the Canton of Ticino , in the Canton of Valais , in the Bernese Oberland and in northern Italy . In 1855 it was reported from the Grande Chartreuse in the French Alps, which was still accepted for the time being in 2002, but still requires examination.

The snail feeds on lichens, fungi and dead plants. She is nocturnal.

literature

  • Barbara Nitz, René Heim, Ulrich E. Schneppat, Isabel Hyman and Gerhard Haszprunar : 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, 2009 doi : 10.1093 / mollus / eyp030

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Newly discovered snail is named Sarner Neue Obwaldner Zeitung, September 18, 2009
  2. ↑ CM Brandstetter: Limax sarnensis Heim & Nitz 2009 - a synonym for Limax alpinus A. Férussac 1821! , Newsletter of the First Vorarlberg Malacological Society 18, 2009: 27-32. Rankweil.
  3. ^ G. Falkner, TEJ Ripken, M. Falkner: Mollusques continentaux de France. List de référence annotée et bibliographie , Paris 2002, pp. [1-2], 1-350, [1-3].
  4. ↑ H. Turner, JGJ Kuiper, N. Thew, R. Bernasconi, J. Rüetschi, M. Wüthrich, M. Gosteli: Fauna Helvetica 2. Atlas of mollusks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein , Neuchâtel 1998, pp. 1-527
  5. ↑ B. Nitz, R. Heim, UE Schneppat, I. Hyman, G. Haszprunar: 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) 2009: 279-294.
  6. ↑ Limax cinereoniger wolf, 1803
  7. ↑ Brandstetter's 2011 argument that the neotype description is invalid (because the neotype came from Austria and thus 700 km away from Studer's probable place of discovery near Bern), is not covered by the ICZN Code Art. 75.3.6 because there only the subjective assessment of the authors who determine a neotype can take effect (see AnimalBase page from Limax alpinus ).
  8. ↑ Page 27 in A. Moquin-Tandon 1855. Histoire naturelle des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France contenant des études générales sur leur anatomie et leur physiologie et la particulière des genres, des espèces et des variétés. Tome second. - pp. 1-646, atlas 1-92, Pl. I-LIV [= 1-54]. Paris. (Baillière).
  9. ^ Page 133 in Falkner, G., Ripken, TEJ & Falkner, M. 2002. Mollusques continentaux de France. List of references and bibliography. - pp. [1-2], 1-350, [1-3]. Paris.

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