Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 15, 2026

Limacus

Limacus is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Limacidae, the short-keeled slugs.

Last revised
Jun 15, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
556 w
Citations
11
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Limacus
Limacus flavus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Limacidae
Genus: Limacus
Lehmann, 18641
Type species
Limacus breckworthianus Lehmann, 1864
Synonyms
  • Limax (Limacus) Lehmann, 1864
  • Plepticolimax Malm, 1868
  • Simrothia Clessin, 1884

Limacus is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Limacidae, the short-keeled slugs.2

Taxonomy

There remains a difference of opinion whether Limacus should be its own genus or a subgenus of Limax. A 2026 molecular phylogeny3 indicated that Limacus and Limax form sister clades (forming a polytomy together with Turcomilax), so both treatments are equally valid. Formerly, if Limacus was considered a subgenus of Limax, Limacus maculatus had to be known as Limax ecarinatus (because another species was formerly known under the name Limax maculatus),4 but a ruling by the ICZN has now made Limax maculatus correct.5

Species

Two extant species are known and one fossil.

  • Limacus flavus (Linnaeus, 1758), the type species;6 synonyms = Limax flavus Linnaeus, 1758; Limacus breckworthianus Lehmann, 1864
  • Limacus maculatus (Kaleniczenko, 1851); synonyms = Limax maculatus (Kaleniczenko, 1851), Limax ecarinatus Boettger, 1881; Limax grossui Lupu, 1970; Limax pseudoflavus Evans, 1978
  • † Limacus crassitesta (Reuss, 1868)
Limacus maculatus (A) and L. flavus (B)7 source ↗

The two extant species are hard or impossible to distinguish on external characters, so identification relies on a character of the genital anatomy, requiring dissection. They are large slugs up to 130 mm long, yellowish with mottled darker markings and blue-grey tentacles.8 Like other limacid slugs they have a pointed tail, and the pneumostome is in the hind part of the mantle. Genetic information suggests that the species may hybridise.9 Both species have spread from their native ranges in southern Europe and Asia, with L. flavus occurring worldwide as a synanthrope.1011

References

References

  1. Lehmann, R. (1864). "Neue Nacktschnecken aus Australien". Malakozoologische Blätter. 11: 145–149.
  2. MolluscaBase Eds. "Limacus Lehmann, 1864". Molluscabase. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  3. Hutchinson, J.M.C.; Schlitt, B.; Reise, H. (2026). "Ambigolimax, Lehmannia and other limacid slugs (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora); what their DNA tells us about phylogeny, taxonomy and phylogeography". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 92 (1) eyaf031. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyaf031.
  4. Welter-Schultes, F.W. (2013). Guidelines for the capture and management of digital zoological names information. Version 1.1. Copenhagen: Global Biodiversity Information Facility. p. 65. ISBN 978-87-92020-44-4.
  5. ICZN (2016). "Opinion 2375 (Case 3639) Krynickillus maculatus Kaleniczenko, 1851 (currently Limax maculatus; Gastropoda, Stylommatophora, Limacidae): specific name conserved". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 73 (1): 61–62. doi:10.21805/bzn.v73i1.a10.
  6. AnimalBase info at: Genus taxon summary for Limacus. AnimalBase, accessed 10 August 2009.
  7. Turóci, Á.; Hutchinson, J.M.C.; Schlitt, B.; Reise, H.; Rapala, M.; Páll-Gergely, B. (2023). "Five new introduced terrestrial slugs in Hungary". BioInvasions Records. 12 (3): 711–729. doi:10.3391/bir.2023.12.3.08.
  8. Rowson, B.; Turner, J.; Anderson, R.; Symondson, B. (2014). Slugs of Britain and Ireland. Identification, understanding and control. Telford, UK: FSC Publications/National Museum of Wales. ISBN 978-1908819130.
  9. Rowson, B.; Anderson, R.; Turner, J.A.; Symondson, W.O.C. (2014). "The slugs of Britain and Ireland: undetected and undescribed species increase a well-studied, economically important fauna by more than 20%". PLoS ONE. 9 (4) e91907. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091907. PMC 3989179.
  10. Langeraert, W.; van de Haar, P.G.; Margry, K. (2021). "The green cellar slug Limacus maculatus (Kaleniczenko, 1851) (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Limacidae) new for the Netherlands". Basteria. 85 (1): 6–12.
  11. Herbert, D.G. (2010). The introduced terrestrial Mollusca of South Africa. SANBI Biodiversity Series 15 (PDF). Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute. ISBN 9781919976563.