Ariostralis nebulosa

Last updated

Ariostralis nebulosa
Ariostralis nebulosa.png
Black-and-white photo of a live individual of A. nebulosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora

informal group

Contents

Sigmurethra
Superfamily:
Arionoidea
Family:
Oopeltidae
Subfamily:
Ariopeltinae [1]
Genus:
Ariostralis
Species:
A. nebulosa
Binomial name
Ariostralis nebulosa
Sirgel, 1985

Ariostralis nebulosa is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusk in the family Oopeltidae.

Distribution

This is a species of non-marine mollusc found in South Africa only. [1]

Ecology

A. nebulosa is readily found throughout the whole year. [1]

A. nebulosa serves as the first intermediate host for a parasite, the brachylaimid trematode Renylaima capensis . [1] Branched, cercariogenous sporocysts of this parasite massively develop in A. nebulosa. [1] These sporocysts are attached to the hepatopancreas, body wall, pallial floor and even to the genital system. [1] This fluke is highly specific at the first intermediate host level. [1]

The forest shrew (Myosorex varius) is a predator of A. nebulosa. [1] There is a possible direct infection of the shrew by the cercariae of R. capensis.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sirgel, W. F.; Artigas, P.; Bargues, M. D.; Mas-Coma, S. (2012). "Life Cycle of Renylaima capensis, a Brachylaimid Trematode of Shrews and Slugs in South Africa: Two-host and Three-host Transmission Modalities Suggested by Epizootiology and DNA Sequencing". Parasites & Vectors 5: 169. doi : 10.1186/1756-3305-5-169 .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.