Mariaella dussumieri

Mariaella dussumieri is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ariophantidae.

Mariaella dussumieri
Drawing of the internal shell of Mariaella dussumieri.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
clade Sigmurethra
clade limacoid clade
Superfamily:
Helicarionoidea
Family:
Ariophantidae
Genus:
Mariaella
Species:
M. dussumieri
Binomial name
Mariaella dussumieri
Gray, 1855[1]

Mariaella dussumieri is the type species of the genus Mariaella.

Its specific name is in honor of French merchant Jean-Jacques Dussumier.

Distribution

This species lives in India. It is endemic to Western Ghats.[2] In the Western Ghats it occurs 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 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.[4]

Shell description

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]

Anatomy
Mariaella dussumieri mating in Southern Western Ghats

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]

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References

The article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[3]

  1. Gray. 1855. Cat. Pulm. B. M., page 63.
  2. Mavinkurve R. G., Shanbhag S. P. & Madhyastha N. A. 2004. Checklist of terrestrial gastropods of Karnataka, India. Zoos' Print Journal 19(11):1684-1686.
  3. Blanford W. T. & Godwin-Austen H. H. 1908. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Mollusca. Testacellidae and Zonitidae. Taylor & Francis, London, page 204-206.
  4. 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 Archived 2016-06-16 at the Wayback Machine.
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