Identification of slug, northern Greece

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JTh

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Identification of slug, northern Greece
« on: September 28, 2014, 08:49:04 AM »
Is anybody able to identify this slug for me? I am more familiar with Arion vulgaris, the so-called Spanish slug, from my garden in Norway than I really want. So far, I have been living under the impression that there are no slugs where we are in northern Greece. Until yesterday, that is. When I was digging to prepare the soil for some new plants I found two greyish-brown slugs. They were not as big as Arion vulgaris, when fully stretched out around 7 cm long, with relatively small optical tentacles (and smaller sensory tentacles). The foot (underside) was pale orange. I am fairly sure it is not in the Arionidae family, there is a distinct keel on the back, it is easier to see in the bottom photo, when the slug was not stretching, so maybe it belongs to either Limacidae or Agriolimacidae, but maybe somebody could tell me?


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by JorunT, on Flickr


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by JorunT, on Flickr
Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.

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oron peri

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Re: Identification of slug, northern Greece
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2014, 05:14:00 PM »
Jorun
Try MIlax barypus Bourguignat,
It fits your description but i'm not sure if it has been
recorded in your area.
Garden Designer, Bulb man, Botanical tours guide.
Living and gardening in Tivon, Lower Galilee region, North Israel.
Min temp 5c Max 42c, around 450mm rain.

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JTh

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Re: Identification of slug, northern Greece
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2014, 07:17:05 PM »
Thank you Oron I agree, it does fit the description of Milax barypus quite well, except that this species does not seem to be registered in Greece, and it is also smaller than those I see here. I looked at the description of all the 14 Milax species, some of them from Greece, but they were all smaller than those I found here (found more today, they are hiding under stones or in the ground). Then I looked at the species in the genus Tandonia (both Milax and Tandonia belong to the same family) at the site Terrestial slugs Web. The species in this genus seem to have the same size as those I have seen.  I read that Tandonia sowerby is native to Europe, possibly originally only to Greece, where it is very common. The only deviation I could see is that the mucus produced by the sole of T. sowerby is a contrasting yellow , while the mucus I saw was clear. It seems to be a potentially serious threat, so I choose to treat it like I treat Arion vulgaris
 
Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.