Tandonia sowerbyi

Tandonia sowerbyi
Drawings of Tandonia sowerbyi, contracted (left) and active (right)
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:	Parmacelloidea
Family:	Milacidae
Genus:	Tandonia
Species:	T. sowerbyi
Binomial name
Tandonia sowerbyi (Férussac, 1823)

Tandonia sowerbyi is a species of air-breathing, keeled, land slug, a shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Milacidae. ^[1]

Description

This is a keeled slug.

Habitat

This slug occurs in gardens and other synanthropic habitats.

Distribution

This slug is native to Europe, possibly originally only to Greece where it is very common. It is known to occur in a number of countries and islands including:

• Great Britain
• Ireland
• Italy
• Portugal
• The Netherlands
• and other areas

And also in:

• New Zealand
• South America

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 affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.^[2]

References

1. Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. Pp 196-219 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
2. Cowie R. H., Dillon R. T., Robinson D. G. & Smith J. W. (2009). "Alien non-marine snails and slugs of priority quarantine importance in the United States: A preliminary risk assessment". American Malacological Bulletin 27: 113-132. PDF.

• AnimalBase info at:
• Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. Pp 196-219 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.