Mariaella dussumieri | |
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Drawing of the internal shell of Mariaella dussumieri. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
(unranked): | clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura |
Superfamily: | Helicarionoidea |
Family: | Ariophantidae |
Genus: | Mariaella |
Species: | M. dussumieri |
Binomial name | |
Mariaella dussumieri Gray, 1855[1] |
Mariaella dussumieri is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ariophantidae.
Mariaella dussumieri is the type species of the genus Mariaella.
Its specific name is in honor of French merchant Jean-Jacques Dussumier.
Contents |
This species lives in India. It is endemic to Karnataka.[2]
The Western Ghats as far north as the Kadur district of Mysore and perhaps to Mahableshwar. Hill-tracts of Ceylon.[3]
The type locality was Mahé, India, a small town between Calicut and Cannanore on the Malabar coast.[3]
This species has not yet become established in the USA, but it is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively effect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.[4]
The internal shell in general thin, slightly convex, ovate and white. The apex of the shell is forming a small point at the right side and near the posterior end. The shell is not involute.[3]
The color of the animal is yellowish brown or olivaceous, sometimes almost black, and generally mottled with dark blotches.[3]
The mantle has two narrow raised ridges on the shell-lobes, one running from the little shell-aperture round the left margin of the shell, the other towards the respiratory orifice on the right margin.[3]
The size appears to vary up to about 8 inches (200 mm) in length.[3]
Teeth of radula in one specimen were 88.3.20.1.20.3.88 (111.1.111), in another 95.2.18.1.18.2.95 (115.1.115).[3]
The article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[3]