| Deroceras laeve | |
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| Deroceras laeve | |
| Conservation status | |
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NE[1]
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Limacoidea |
| Family: | Agriolimacidae |
| Genus: | Deroceras |
| Species: | D. laeve |
| Binomial name | |
| Deroceras laeve (O. F. Müller, 1774)[2] |
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| Synonyms[3] | |
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Deroceras laeve, the marsh slug, is a species of small air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Agriolimacidae.
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The distribution of Deroceras laeve was originally Palearctic, from the subpolar zones to the southern margins.[4] Today this slug species has been introduced worldwide except Antarctica, also on tropical islands such as New Guinea and on Pacific islands.[4]
Europe:
Asia:
The Americas:
The slug is from brown to dark brown, usually with dark and characteristic but not well visible spots arranged in groups.[4] The shape is almost cylindrical, posterior end is abruptly widened.[4] The mantle covers 50 % of body length (unusually large).[4] There are wrinkles on skin present (may disappear in preserved slugs).[4] Mucus is thin, colourless.[4]
This slug is 15–25 mm long when preserved.[4]
The populations of this species that occur in Central Europe are much darker than other Deroceras species in that area.
Reproductive system: Penis is often reduced, elongated if present, without proper penial gland but with two or more tiny glandular papillae and its end.[4] Retractor is unforked and attached at half penis length, stimulator small, cone-shaped but looks more like a papilla.[4] Tubular oviductus and atrium are unusually long.[4] There is no rectal caecum.[4]
Deroceras laeve has high ecological tolerance, but needs permanently wet habitats.[4] It is usually found in lowlands and very humid habitats, swamps, riversides, wetlands, especially alder and oak woods, marshlands and degraded areas, also greenhouses, often near water under wood or detritus.[4] It tolerates subpolar and tropical temperatures.[4] Newly created habitats are often colonized after a few years.[4] In Switzerland in up to 1800 m altitude, but usually below 1000 m, in Bulgaria in up to 2500 m.[4]
Deroceras laeve can be a serious pest in greenhouses.[4] On the other hand the species is threatened by continuous elimination of wet habitats by drainage, construction projects and road construction.[4]
It is the only land gastropod that goes deliberately into the water and can survive for days submerged.[4] Because of this unusual behavior, the species can be dispersed by flowing water.[4]
These slugs are agile and crawl quickly. They are omnivorous, but live and dead plant remains are preferred.[4]
The eggs of this species can also survive when submerged; juveniles can hatch underwater and then climb to the surface.[4]
The life cycle is extremely short, and can take place within less than a month.[4] This species can have up to 5 generations in a year,[4] with several generations alive at the same time.[4] Frequently there are forms with a reduced penis, which reproduce by self-fertilisation.[4] The maximum age of this slug is not more than 1 year.[4]
Parasites of Deroceras laeve include:
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference [4]