Genus Deroceras Rafinesque, 1815

Museums

Regional Maps

• Deroceras Rafinesque, C.S. 1815. Annals of Nature or annual synopsis of new genera and species of animals, plants, etc. discovered in North America by C.S. Rafinesque. First annual number for 1820. Lexington : C.S. Rafinesque 16 pp. [10].

  Type species:

   Limax (Deroceras) gracilis Rafinesque, 1820 (as Limax (?Deroceras) gracilis Rafinesque 1820) by original designation.
• Agriolimax Mörch, O.A.L. 1865. Quelques mots sur un arrangement des mollusques pulmonés terrestres (Géophiles, Fér.) basé sur le système naturelle. Journal de Conchyliologie 13: 376-396 [378].

  Type species:

   Limax agrestis Linnaeus, 1758 by original designation.

  Secondary source:

   Kennard, A.S. 1941. A list of the British non-marine Mollusca. Journal of Conchology 21: 260-275 [272].

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Pilsbry, H.A. 1944. Western American field slug (Deroceras). Nautilus 58: 15-16 [15]
• Barker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand, 38. Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand : Manaaki Whenua Press 253 pp. [31]

 

Introduction

A COI-based phylogeny of Deroceras provided by Reise et al. (2011) showed that most species were monophyletic, however, they confirmed that the names previously applied to the widespread pest species, formerly referred to as Deroceras panormitanum (Lessona & Pollonera, 1882), were invalid. In an effort to stabilise the taxonomy, the authors formerly described the invasive tramp species as Deroceras invadens Reise, Hutchinson, Schunack & Schlitt, 2011, and redescribed D. panormitanum as now occurring in Malta and Sicily.

 

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

AGRIOLIMACIDAE: Deroceras panormitanum (Lessona & Pollonera, 1882) [misidentifications of Deroceras invadens Reise, Hutchinson, Schunack & Schlitt, 2021; D. panormitanum was redefined by Reise et al. (2021) to occur in the Mediterranean.] — Reise, H., Hutchinson, J., Schunack, S. & Schlitt, B. 2011. Deroceras panormitanum and congeners from Malta and Sicily, with a redescription of the widespread pest slug as Deroceras invadens n. sp. Folia Malacologica 19: 201-223

AGRIOLIMACIDAE: Limax laevis Müller, 1774 [as Agriolimax, excluded as Deroceras, see Altena & Smith (1975: 69)]

AGRIOLIMACIDAE: Limax ogreslis Linnaeus, 1758

 

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Most temperate parts of the world.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Ben Lomond (BEL), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Flinders (FLI), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Tasmanian West (TWE), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Australian Capital Territory: Murray-Darling basin
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Queensland: NE coastal
  • South Australia: Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SE coastal, W plateau
  • Tasmania: Tas. coast
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: SW coastal, W plateau

Distribution References

General References

Altena, C.O. van R. & Smith, B.J. 1975. Notes on introduced slugs of the families Limacidae and Milacidae in Australia, with two new records. Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 3: 63-80

Reise, H., Hutchinson, J., Schunack, S. & Schlitt, B. 2011. Deroceras panormitanum and congeners from Malta and Sicily, with a redescription of the widespread pest slug as Deroceras invadens n. sp. Folia Malacologica 19: 201-223

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
11-Apr-2024	LIMACOIDEI ("Limacoid clade")	11-Apr-2024	MODIFIED
12-Apr-2022	HELICINA	08-Mar-2024	MODIFIED
06-May-2020	STYLOMMATOPHORA	11-Apr-2024	MODIFIED
06-May-2020	HELICINA	11-Apr-2024	MODIFIED
04-Dec-2018	HETEROBRANCHIA	11-Apr-2024	MODIFIED
03-Oct-2018	HETEROBRANCHIA	11-Apr-2024	MODIFIED	Ingo Burghardt (AM) Ms Anouk Mututantri
		11-Apr-2024	MODIFIED