Testacella

Testacella
Temporal range: Lutetian-Recent
Shelled Slug, Testacella haliotidea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Testacellidae
J. E. Gray, 1840
Genus: Testacella
Draparnaud, 1801
Type species
Testacella haliotidea Draparnaud, 1801
Synonyms
  • Testacella (Testacella) Lamarck, 1801 · alternate representation
  • Testacella (Testacelloides) A. J. Wagner, 1914 · alternate representation
  • Testacellus Montfort, 1810
Testacella maugei in the contracted state

Testacella is genus of small to medium-large, predatory, air-breathing, land slugs. It is the only genus in the family Testacellidae. They are not often seen because they live underground.

Distribution

Species within this genus of slugs live in north Africa, southern and western Europe, and Britain.

Species

Species within the genus Testacella include:

Nomen dubium
Synonyms

Description

These slugs have a very small, ear-shaped shell, which is situated far back on their bodies.

In the family Testacellidae, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 31 and 35.

Habitat

These slugs are rarely observed, but they tend to live in gardens and farms where there is rich soil and a lot of earthworms.

Life habits

These slugs live underground and hunt earthworms. They are usually only seen when they are forced up to the surface because the soil has become completely saturated with rain.

Drawing from 1896 showing the three species of Testacella found in Great Britain
1 - Testacella haliotidea
2 - Testacella scutulum
3 - Testacella maugei

References

  1. 1 2 "Family summary for Testacellidae". AnimalBase, last modified 8 August 2010, accessed 28 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Gray J. E. (1840). [A new edition of] A manual of the land and fresh-water shells of the British Isles by W. Turton. Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, London. ix + 324 pp., 12 plates. page 109.
  3. ↑ Draparnaud J. P. R. (1801). Tableau des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France. 116 pp. Montpellier, Paris. (Renaud; Bossange, Masson & Besson). page 33, 99.
  4. ↑ MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Testacella Lamarck, 1801. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=818595 on 2022-09-13
  5. ↑ Bouchet, Philippe; Rocroi, Jean-Pierre; Frýda, Jiri; Hausdorf, Bernard; Ponder, Winston; Valdés, Ángel & Warén, Anders (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia. 47 (1–2). Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks: 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  6. ↑ Wagner A. J. (1914). Anz. Akad. Wiss. Wien 51: 335.
  7. ↑ "Testacelloides A.J. Wagner, 1914". Fauna Europaea, last update 27 January 2011, accessed 28 June 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Species in genus Testacella" (n=6). AnimalBase, accessed 19 January 2011.
  9. ↑ Barker G. M.: Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.