Prophysaon

Prophysaon, common name taildropper slugs, is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs.

Prophysaon
Prophysaon andersoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra
Superfamily:
Arionoidea
Family:
Arionidae
Genus:
Prophysaon

Bland & W. G. Binney, 1873[1]

These slugs can self-amputate (autotomy) a portion of their tail.[2] This autotomy has been observed in the species Prophysaon andersoni.[3]

Distribution

This genus of slugs occurs in North America, including California and Oregon.

Species

Species in the genus Prophysaon include 10 species (9 according to Turgeon et al. 1998[4][5] plus one known undescribed species[2]):

  • Prophysaon andersoni (J. G. Cooper, 1872) - Reticulate Taildropper, Anderson's Taildropper Slug
  • Prophysaon boreale Pilsbry, 1948 - Northern Taildropper
  • Prophysaon coeruleum Cockerell, 1890 - Blue-Gray Taildropper
  • Prophysaon dubium Cockerell, 1890 - Papillose Taildropper
  • Prophysaon fasciatum Cockerell in W. G. Binney - Banded Taildropper
  • Prophysaon foliolatum (Gould, 1851) - Yellow-bordered Taildropper
  • Prophysaon humile Cockerell, 1890 - Smoky Taildropper
  • Prophysaon obscurum (Cockerell, 1890) - Mottled Taildropper
  • Prophysaon vanattae Pilsbry, 1948 - Scarlet-backed Taildropper
    • Prophysaon vanattae var. pardalis
  • Prophysaon undescribed species from Siskiyou County, California.[2][6]

References
  1. Bland, Thomas; Binney, W. G. (1873). "On Prophysaon, a New Pulmonate Mollusk, on Ariolimax, on Helix Lymnuchus and Other Species". Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 10: 293.
  2. Rory J. Mc Donnel, Timothy D. Paine & Michael J. Gormally. 2009. Slugs: A Guide to the Invasive and Native Fauna of California Archived 2011-07-04 at the Wayback Machine. 21 pp., ISBN 978-1-60107-564-2. page 9
  3. Hand, C., and W.M. Ingram. 1950. Natural history observations on Prophysaon andersoni (J.G. Cooper) with special reference to amputation. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 49: 15-28.
  4. Thomas E. Burke. MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TERRESTRIAL MOLLUSK SPECIES Prophysaon coeruleum, Blue-Gray Taildropper & Prophysaon dubium, Papillose Taildropper http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/surveyandmanage/MR/TM4Species/2000-015_3.pdf
  5. ITIS accessed 17 January 2009.
  6. Roth B. & Sadeghian P. S. 2006. Checklist of the Land Snails and Slugs of California. Contributions in Science 3. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, California. 82 pp.
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