Ariunculus
| Ariunculus | |
|---|---|
| File:Ariunculus speziae.jpg | |
| A live individual of Ariunculus speziae, coin diameter is 16.25 mm | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Arionidae |
| Genus: | Ariunculus Lessona, 1881[1] |
| Type species | |
| Ariunculus speziae Lessona, 1881
| |
| Diversity | |
| 2 species, each in its own subgenus | |
Ariunculus is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs. Sometimes it has been considered as a subgenus of Arion,[2][3][4] and sometimes the subgenus Ichnusarion has been raised to generic rank.[5]
Etymology
[edit | edit source]The stem of Arion plus the suffix -unculus, which is a diminutive in Latin. Hence "little Arion". Pollonera[6] justifies why "Ariunculus" is appropriate rather than "Arionculus" (cf. "homo" and "homunculus").
The subgenus name Ichnusarion is also based on "Arion", to which has been added "Ichnusa", a Latin name of Sardinia, where the single species of this subgenus is endemic.
Species
[edit | edit source]Only two species are currently recognised:[7]
subgenus Ariuncululus
- Ariunculus speziae Lessona, 1881[1] – type species of the genus; Italian Alps[8] with one record in Switzerland[9]
subgenus Ichnusarion Pollonera, 1890[6]
- Ariunculus isselii Lessona & Pollonera, 1882[10] – Sardinia
Other species have been discounted as distinct members of the genus:[7]
- A. mortilleti and A. camerani are considered synonyms of A. speziae (all three were originally described in the same article,[1] but differ only in size and coloration, not genitalia);[8]
- A. moreleti is considered a species of Letourneuxia;[11]
- A. pallaryi matches Letourneuxia numidica in its description;[7]
- A. austriacus has been synonymised with Arion subfuscus;[12]
- A. tricolor and A. nigratus are thought to have been misidentified juveniles of a large Arion;[11]
- A. ischii was apparently a misprint for A. isselii.[7]
Diagnostic characters
[edit | edit source]Genital characters that have been proposed as diagnostic of the genus are:
- the genital pore is very anterior, anterior to the pneumostome;[10]
- the atrium is large;[10]
- the duct of the bursa copulatrix opens near the end of the epiphallus;[10]
- the oviduct is long with two bends;[13][14]
- the epiphallus blends imperceptibly with the vas deferens;[10]
At least in one species of Ariunculus, this last character reflects that sperm is transferred naked rather than in a spermatophore formed in the epiphallus; this is a fundamental contrast with Arion and Geomalacus.[7]
Ariunculus differs from Geomalacus, and is similar to Arion, in that the caudal gland is prominent and the mantle contains only calcareous granules rather than a shell plate.[6]
References
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