Bielzia coerulans

Bielzia coerulans
Bielzia coerulans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra
clade limacoid clade
Superfamily: Limacoidea
Family: Limacidae
Subfamily: Limacinae
Genus: Bielzia
Clessin, 1887[1]
Species: B. coerulans
Binomial name
Bielzia coerulans
M. Bielz, 1851[2]
Synonyms[3]
  • Limax coerulans Bielz, 1851
  • Limax schwabi Frauenfeld, 1864

Bielzia coerulans, commonly known as the Carpathian blue slug or simply the blue slug, is a species of very large land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod in the family Limacidae, the keelback slugs.

Taxonomy

Bielzia coerulans was discovered in 1847 and described under the name Limax coerulans by Austrian-Hungarian malacologist, Michael Bielz (1787-1866), in 1851. (His son Eduard Albert Bielz was also a malacologist.)

Bielzia coerulans is the only species in the genus Bielzia.[4]

Some authors, for example Russian malacologists,[3] classify genus Bielzia as the only genus (monotypic) within the separate family, Limacopsidae.[3][5] There is also a separate subfamily, Bielziinae, for genus Bielzia (I. M. Likharev & Wiktor, 1980).

According to the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), Limacopsidae and Bielziinae are synonyms for Limacinae.[6]

Distribution

This species is endemic to the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe.

The type locality of Bielzia coerulans is South Carpathians in Romania.[3]

Adults of Bielzia coerulans are blue
Juveniles of Bielzia coerulans are brown


Description

This slug turns blue when an adult and becomes 100 – 140 mm in length.[12] It is evenly blue or bluish green (occasionally black) with a dark greyish head and tentacles, and margins pale yellowish, sole pale yellowish or whitish.[12]

Juveniles are yellowish brown with dark lateral bands.[12]

Reproductive system: Genitalia are without penis.[12] There is only an accessory organ for copulation.[12]

Ecology

Bielzia coerulans inhabits deciduous and coniferous forests in mountains, usually at the bottom, or under dead wood logs.[12]

Maturity is in June to July.[12] Copulation occurs at the soil.[12] There are 30-80 eggs laid in one clutch.[12] Adults die after egg deposition.[12] Half grown juveniles hibernate.[12] Fully grown slugs appear in May.[12]

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[12]

  1. ↑ (German) Clessin S. (1887). "Die Molluskenfauna Österreich-Ungarns und der Schweiz". pp. 1-858. Nürnberg. (Bauer & Raspe). page 47.
  2. ↑ (German) Bielz M. (1851). "Verzeichniss der Land- und Süsswasser-Mollusken Siebenbürgens". Verhandlungen und Mittheilungen des Siebenbürgischen Vereins für Naturwissenschaften in Hermannstadt 2: 14-16, 55-59, 62-65. (Limax coerulans is on the page 14.)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kantor Yu I., Vinarski M. V., Schileyko A. A. & Sysoev A. V.(published online on December 22, 2009). "Catalogue of the continental mollusks of Russia and adjacent territories". Version 2.3.
  4. 1 2 (Polish) Wiktor A. (1989). Limacoidea et Zonitoidea nuda. Slimaki pomrowioksztaltne (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora). Fauna Poloniae 12, Polska Akademia Nauk, Warszawa, 208 pp., page 178-181.
  5. ↑ (German) Gerhardt U. (16 July 1935). "Weitere Untersuchungen zur Kopulation der Nacktschnecken". Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Ökologie der Tiere 30(2): 297-332. Page 329.
  6. ↑ Bouchet P., Rocroi J.-P., Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdés Á. & Warén A. (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia: International Journal of Malacology (Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks) 47 (1-2): 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.
  7. ↑ Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L. (2001). "Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic". Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem. 65: 25-40.
  8. ↑ "Red List of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic". accessed 9 September 2010.
  9. ↑ Lisický M. J. (1991). Mollusca Slovenska. Veda, Bratislava: 1-341.
  10. ↑ http://archersofokcular.com/blue-heaven/
  11. ↑ Wiese, V., Glasow, M. von D. (2013). "Blauschnegel Bielzia coerulans (M. Bielz 1851) in Deutschland (Gastropoda: Limacidae)" (PDF). Mitteilungen der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft 89: 43–46.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Species summary for Bielzia coerulans". AnimalBase, last modified 29 October 2009, accessed 9 September 2010.

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