Chlamydephorus

Chlamydephorus is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Chlamydephoridae. It is the only genus within the family Chlamydephoridae.[1]

Chlamydephorus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra
Superfamily:
Rhytidoidea
Family:
Chlamydephoridae

Cockerell, 1935
Genus:
Chlamydephorus

Binney, 1879
Diversity[1]
10 species
Synonyms

Aperidae Möllendorff, 1903
Apera Heynemann, 1885[2]

Taxonomy

The family Chlamydephoridae has no subfamilies and it is placed in the superfamily Rhytidoidea.

Chlamydephorus is the type genus of the family Chlamydephoridae.

Species

Species within the genus Chlamydephorus include:

Distribution

Species of Chlamydephorus occur across southern Africa; they are most commonly found in the Natal region of South Africa.[3]

Description

Chlamydephorus slugs have an internal vestigial shell. The pallial organs are located at the posterior end of the elongated body and embedded under the dorsal integument. The elongation of the buccal mass varies greatly among the different species of the family and this is reflected in the size of the radula and the number of teeth. In all species the jaw is absent. The largest individuals of these slugs can be up to 120 mm in length.[3]

Ecology

These slugs are believed to be mostly subterranean dwellers. Gut analysis of one species found both plant and animal matter, indicating that they are facultative predators who will also eat vegetation. They have been recorded as eating pill millipedes of the genus Sphaerotherium,[4] snails, other arthropods and soft-bodied invertebrates such as earthworms. The prey is subdued by injecting a toxin into its flesh.[3]

References
  1. Herbert D. G. (1997). "The terrestrial slugs of KwaZulu-Natal: diversity, biogeography and conservation (Mollusca: Pulmonata)". Annals of the Natal Museum 38: 197-239. PDF.
  2. Heynemann (1885). Jahrb. dtsch. malak. Ges. 12: 20.
  3. G. M. Barker, ed. (2004). Natural Enemies of Terrestrial Molluscs. p. 317.
  4. Herbert D. G. (2000). "Dining on diplopods: remarkable feeding behaviour in chlamydephorid slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda)". Journal of Zoology 251(1): 1–5. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2000.tb00586.x.

Further reading
  • Boss K. J. (1982). Mollusca. In: Parker, S.P., Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms, vol. 1. McGraw-Hill, New York: 945-1166.
  • Forcart L. (1963) "Slugs of South Africa". Journal of Molluscan Studies 35(2-3): 103-110.
  • Schlleyko A. A. (2000). "Treatise on Recent terrestrial pulmonate molluscs. Part 6. Rhytididae, Chlamydephoridae, Systrophiidae, Haplotrematidae, Streptaxidae, Spiraxidae, Oleacinidae, Testacellidae". Ruthenica, Suppl. 2: 729–880.
  • Watson H. (1915). "Studies on carnivorous slugs of South Africa". African Invertebrates. 107-267 + plates VII-XXIV.
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