Krynickillus melanocephalus

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Krynickillus melanocephalus
Krynickillus melanocephalus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Agriolimacidae
Genus: Krynickillus
Species:
K. melanocephalus
Binomial name
Krynickillus melanocephalus
Kaleniczenko  [ uk ], 1851 [1]

Krynickillus melanocephalus is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial gastropod mollusc in the family Agriolimacidae. [2] It is an invasive species, spreading from regions around the Black Sea to Northern and Central Europe.

Contents

Identification

The species resembles in form other agriolimacid slugs (notably Deroceras ), so has the pneumostome in the rear half of the mantle and a tapering tail without a marked keel. However, it grows larger than Deroceras species (60 mm or occasionally more). The most distinctive feature is the deep black tentacles, head, and nape, with the dark colouration still visible under the front of the mantle. The congener Krynickillus urbanskii (Wiktor, 1971), occurring in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, has a paler black head and a pale nape. [3] [4]

Distribution

The natural range of Krynickillus melanocephalus is the Caucasus, Crimea, eastern Turkey and northern Iran. [5] [6] It has been introduced more widely within Europe: further parts of Ukraine (e.g. Kyiv), [7] further parts of Russia (Moscow, Novgorod and Tverskaya oblasts), [8] Germany (since 1994), [9] Latvia (since 1997), [10] [11] Belarus (since 2009), [12] Sweden (since 2015), [6] Lithuania (since 2017), [13] Finland (since 2017), [6] Hungary (since 2019), [4] Slovakia (since 2020), [14] Poland (since 2022), [15] and Estonia. [6]

Three views of a Hungarian specimen Krynickillus melanocephalus HU.jpg
Three views of a Hungarian specimen

Ecology

In its introduced range the species becomes adult in autumn and dies off in winter. It has spread from gardens to adjacent habitats, including woodland and meadows. Although it has sometimes been reported as a pest of crops, others have suggested that a diet of algae, fallen fruit, and fungi makes it less of a threat. [6] In its native range this is a forest species. [3] In experiments, slugs laid far more eggs in leaf litter than in moss, soil or gravel. [16]

Related Research Articles

<i>Limacus flavus</i> Species of gastropod

Limacus flavus, known commonly as the cellar slug, the yellow slug, or the tawny garden slug, is a medium to large species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Limacidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish slug</span> Species of gastropod

The Spanish slug is an air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs. Other vernacular names are Lusitanian slug, Iberian slug, and killer slug.

<i>Deroceras praecox</i> Species of gastropod

Deroceras praecox is a species of small air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Agriolimacidae.

Deroceras laeve, the marsh slug, is a species of small air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Agriolimacidae.

Deroceras turcicum is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Agriolimacidae.

<i>Deroceras invadens</i> Species of gastropod

Deroceras invadens is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Agriolimacidae. Until 2011, this widely distributed species was known as Deroceras panormitanum, and earlier as Deroceras caruanae or Agriolimax caruanae, but Reise et al. (2011) showed that these names refer to a distinct species of similar external appearance known at that time only from Sicily and Malta. Consequently, although the more widespread species was already well known, it then had to be redescribed under the new name of D. invadens. Genetic evidence has indicated that D. invadens is native in southern Italy, including parts of Sicily, and possibly parts of central Italy. Elsewhere it has been introduced, predominantly within the last 100 years, but its spread has been constrained by cold winter temperatures.

<i>Limacus maculatus</i> Species of gastropod

Limacus maculatus, the green cellar slug or Irish yellow slug, is a species of slug native to the Caucasus and Black Sea coast. It has also been introduced to a number of northern European countries. In its introduced range the species is often synanthropic. It is most likely to be confused with Limacus flavus, which it closely resembles externally.

<i>Tandonia kusceri</i> Species of mollusc

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrzej Wiktor</span> Slug taxonomist

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References

  1. ↑ Kaleniczenko, J. (1851). "Description d'un nouveau genre de Limaces de la Russie méridionale". Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou. 24 (1): 215–228, pls 5, 6.
  2. ↑ "Krynickillus (Krynickillus) melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851". Fauna Europaea . Fauna Europaea Secretariat, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  3. 1 2 Wiktor, A. (2000). "Agriolimacidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) – a systematic monograph" (PDF). Annales Zoologici. 49 (4): 347–590.
  4. 1 2 3 Turóci, Á.; Fehér, Z.; Krízsik, V.; Páll-Gergely, B. (7 August 2020). "Two new alien slugs, Krynickillus melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851 and Tandonia kusceri (H. Wagner, 1931), are already widespread in Hungary". Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 66 (3). doi: 10.17109/AZH.66.3.265.2020 .
  5. ↑ Лихарев И. М., Виктор А. Й. (1980). Слизни фауны СССР и сопредельных стран (Gastropoda terrestria nuda). Фауна СССР, Моллюски, том 3, вып. 5, Ленинград
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 von Proschwitz, T. (11 August 2020). "Rapid invasion of the slug Krynickillus melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851 in Sweden and some notes on the biology and anthropochorous spread of the species in Europe (Gastropoda: Eupulmonata: Agriolimacidae)". Folia Malacologica. 28 (3): 227–234. doi: 10.12657/folmal.028.018 .
  7. ↑ Korol, E.; Korniushin, A.V. (2015). "Introduced population of Krynickillus melanocephalus (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) recorded in Kyiv and preliminary results of its helminthological investigation". Vestnik Zoologii. 36 (6): 57–59. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.5074.4809.
  8. ↑ Шиков Е. В. (2013). Адвентивные виды наземной малакофауны городов Московской, Новгородской и Тверской областей. In: Сохранение степных и полупустынных экосистем Евразии: тезисы международной конференции, Алматы, 13-14 марта 2013 г. / Ред. С.Л. Скляренко, Н.П. Огарь, Т.Н. Дуйсебаева - Алматы: АСБК, 143.
  9. ↑ Meng, S.; Bössneck, U. (1999). "Meng S., Krynickillus melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851 in Deutschland eingeschleppt (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Agriolimacidae)". Malakologische Abhandlungen des Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden. 19: 303–309.
  10. ↑ Stalažs, A.; Šteffek, J.; Dreijers, E. (2008). "Cepaea vindobonensis (C. Pfeiffer, 1828) in Latvia". Acta Universitatis Latviensis. Biology. 745: 199–203.
  11. ↑ Šteffek, Jozef; Stalažs, Arturs; Dreijers, Edgars (29 September 2008). "Snail fauna of the oldest cemeteries from Riga (Latvia)". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca. 7: 79–80. doi: 10.5817/MaB2008-7-79 .
  12. ↑ Ostrovsky, A.M. "Новые находки синантропных видов слизней Limacus flavus (Linnaeus 1758) и Krynickillus melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) в Беларуси [New records of synanthropic species of slugs Limacus flavus (Linnaeus 1758) and Krynickillus melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) in Belarus]". Ruthenica. 27 (14): 155–158. doi:10.35885/ruthenica.2017.27(4).2.
  13. ↑ Stalažs, A.; Dreijers, E.; Ivinskis, P.; Rimšaitė, J.; Džiugelis, M. (2017). "Records of Krynickillus melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851 (Gastropoda: Agriolimacidae) in Lithuania". Bulletin of the Lithuanian Entomological Society. 1 (29): 124–128.
  14. ↑ Čejka, T.; Beran, L.; Coufal, R.; Dvořák, L.; Hlaváč, J.Č.; Horáčková, J.; Horsáková, V.; Juřičková, L.; Kosová, T.; Čačaný, J.; Szabóová, D. (2021-09-16). "Malacological news from the Czech and Slovak Republics in 2020". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca. 20: 56–74. doi: 10.5817/MaB2021-20-56 .
  15. ↑ Maćkiewicz, J.J.; Borys, O. (2023). "First record of invasive slug Krynickillus melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851 (Gastropoda: Eupulmonata: Agriolimacidae) in Poland". Folia Malacologica. 31 (4): 229–235. doi: 10.12657/folmal.031.024 .
  16. ↑ Watz, J.; von Proschwitz, T. (2023). "Egg-laying habitat selection of the invasive slug Krynickillus melanocephalus Kaleniczenko, 1851 (Gastropoda: Eupulmonata: Agriolimacidae)". Folia Malacologica. 31 (4): 222–228. doi: 10.12657/folmal.031.029 .
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