Arion subfuscus

Arion subfuscus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Family:	Arionidae
Genus:	Arion
Species:	A. subfuscus
Binomial name
Arion subfuscus (Draparnaud), 1805)
Synonyms
Arion (Mesarion) subfuscus(Draparnaud, 1805) alternative representation Arion subfuscus var. cinereofuscus(Draparnaud, 1805) (variety) Arion subfuscus var. fennicusSimroth, 1902 (junior synonym) Limax subfuscusDraparnaud, 1805 (original combination) Limax subfuscus var. cinereo-fuscusDraparnaud, 1805 (junior synonym)

Arion subfuscus is a species of land slug. It forms a species complex with Arion fuscus . ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Description

(Original description in French) The animal is elongated and moderately thick. The mantle is slightly humped in the front. The neck is rather short, as are the lower tentacles. The upper tentacles are thick at their base and taper toward the top, which is globulous (or swollen). They are blackish, as is the upper part of the head, which is crossed by four longitudinal lines (or stripes). The mantle is granular, and the back is strewn with anastomosing ridges (ridges that interconnect like a net). The underside of the animal is whitish, and yellowish in the middle. The edge of the foot is grey and marked with small transverse black lines. At the tail, one sees overlapping lamellae (plates or folds). The colour of this animal varies. The mantle and the upper side of the body are always a fairly dark brown, and there is a black band on each side of both the mantle and the body.

However, variety α is coloured with a reddish tint, which is much more noticeable toward the middle of the mantle, and especially on each side of the body below the two black bands.In contrast, in variety β, the tint is ashen or greyish, against which the blackish network formed by the anastomosing ridges stands out on each side of the body. ^[4]

Distribution

It is native to Eurasia, and has been introduced to eastern North America.

References

1. "Arion subfuscus (Draparnaud, 1805)". www.molluscabase.org. MolluscaBase. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
2. Pinceel, J.; Jordaens, K.; Houtte, N. Van; Winter, A. J. De; Backeljau, T. (1 September 2004). "Molecular and morphological data reveal cryptic taxonomic diversity in the terrestrial slug complex Arion subfuscus/fuscus (Mollusca, Pulmonata, Arionidae) in continental north-west Europe". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 83 (1): 23–38. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00368.x . ISSN   1095-8312.
3. Arion subfuscus . 2 November 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
4. Draparnaud, J.-P.-R. (1805). Histoire naturelle des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France. 2 pp. (Avertissement a sa Majesté l'Impératrice), 2 pp. Rapport, i-viii (Préface). Paris: Levrault & Schoell. pp. 125–126. Retrieved 2 November 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

• Bank, R. A.; Neubert, E. (2017). Checklist of the land and freshwater Gastropoda of Europe. Last update: July 16th, 2017.
• Wiktor, A., De-Niu, C. & Ming, W. (2000). Stylommatophoran slugs of China (Gastropoda: Pulmonata)-Prodromus. Folia Malacologica. 8(1): 3-35.
• Garrido, C., Castillejo, J. & Iglesisas, J. (1995). The Arion subfuscus complex in the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, with redescription of Arion subfuscus (Draparnaud 1805) (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Arionidae). Archiv für Molluskenkunde, 124 (1/2): 103-118. Frankfurt am Main, page(s): 104
• Sysoev, A. V. & Schileyko, A. A. (2009). Land snails and slugs of Russia and adjacent countries. Sofia/Moskva (Pensoft). 312 pp., 142 plates

External links

• Simroth, H. (1902). Die Nacktschneckenfauna des Russischen Reiches. XII. St. Petersburg: Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. p. 50. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
• Lee, C.B. (1950). "Some new records for exotic slugs in the United States". The Nautilus. 64 (2): 58–59.
• Jacobson, M.K. (1951). "Two new molluscan records from the New York area". The Nautilus. 64 (3): 104.
• Getz, L.L. (1962). "Color forms of Arion subfuscus in New Hampshire". The Nautilus. 76 (2): 70–71.
• Getz, L.L. (1974). "Arion subfuscus in the vicinity of Washington, D.C." The Nautilus. 88 (2): 66.
• Blanchard, D. & Getz, L. L. (1979). "Arion subfuscus in southeastern Michigan". The Nautilus. 93 (1): 36–37.