Introduction

This family of introduced slugs is closely related to the Limacidae; some authorities include it in that family with subfamilial status. It is similar to the Limacidae in origin, life-style and pest potential for crops and gardens. Species are most easily separated from limacid slugs by the tail keel, which in this family extends along the dorsum to the posterior edge of the mantle.

The family is characterized by the pneumopore being situated towards the posterior end of the right margin of the mantle, and the keel extending to the mantle edge.

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

Barker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand, 38. Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand : Manaaki Whenua Press 253 pp.

Fechter, R. & Falkner, G. 1990. Weichtiere. Europäische Meeres-und Binnenmollusken. München : Mosaik Verlag 287 pp.

Quick, H.E. 1960. British Slugs (Pulmonata : Testacellidae, Arionidae, Limacidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology 6: 103-226

Smith, B.J. 1998. Family Milacidae. 1103 in Beesley, P.L., Ross, G.J.B. & Wells, A. (eds). Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Fauna of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 5(Part B) pp. vi–viii, 565–1234.

History of changes

• Milax Gray, J.E. 1855. Catalogue of Pulmonate or Air-breathing Mollusca in the Collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum 192 pp. [174].

  Type species:

   Limax gagates Draparnaud, 1801 by subsequent designation, see Kennard, A.S. & Woodward, B.B. 1926. Synonymy of the British Non-marine Mollusca (Recent and Post-Tertiary). London : Richard Clay & Sons xxiv 447 pp. [204].
• Amalia Moquin-Tandon, A. 1855. Histoire Naturelle des Mollusques Terrestres et Fluviatiles de France contenant des études générales sur leur anatomie et leur physiologie et la description particulière des genres, des espèces et des varieties. Paris : Baillière Vol. 2 646 pp. [19].

  Type species:

   Limax gagates Draparnaud, 1801 by original designation.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• 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]
• Barker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand, 38. Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand : Manaaki Whenua Press 253 pp. [87]

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

MILACIDAE: Milax budapestensis (Hazay, 1881) — 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 [65]

Milax sowerbyi (Férussac, 1823) — 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 [65]

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

SE Australia. Native to Europe. S and W Europe, temperate N & S America, S Africa, New Zealand and Ils of the S Pacific

IBRA

ACT, NSW, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Ben Lomond (BEL), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Kimberley (CK), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), 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), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Murchison (MUR), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), Northern Kimberley (NK), 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), 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), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • South Australia: S Gulfs, SE coastal
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: SW coastal

Distribution References

History of changes

• Limax gagates Draparnaud, J.P.R. 1801. Tableau des Mollusques Terrestres et Fluviatiles de la France. Montpellier : F. Bonnarig 116 pp. [100].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, whereabouts unknown presumed lost, S France.
• Limax maurus Quoy, J.R.C. & Gaimard, J.P. 1824. in Freycinet, M.L. de (ed.) Voyage Autour du Monde,entrepris par ordre du Roi, sous le Ministère et conformement aux la instructions de S. Exc. M. le Viscomte du Bouchage, Secrétaire d'État au Department de la Marine, exécute sur les Corvettes de S.M. l' Uraine et la Physicienne, pendant les années 1817–1820. Zoologie. Paris : Pillet Ainé. 671 pp. [427].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, whereabouts unknown presumed lost, Port Jackson, NSW.
• Limax pectinatus Selenka, E. 1865. Zwei neue nacktschnecken aus Australien (Limax pectinatus und bicolor). Malakozoologische Blätter 12: 105-110 [105].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, whereabouts unknown presumed lost, Sydney, NSW.
• Milax tasmanicus Tate, R. 1881. On some Australian slugs, chiefly Tasmanian. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1880: 15-18 [1881] [16].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, whereabouts unknown presumed lost, Launceston (Petterd) and Hobart (Legrand), TAS.
• Milax nigricolus Tate, R. 1881. On some Australian slugs, chiefly Tasmanian. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1880: 15-18 [1881] [17].

  Type data:

   Status unknown, whereabouts unknown presumed lost, Adelaide hills, SA.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• 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 [65]
• Barker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand, 38. Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand : Manaaki Whenua Press 253 pp. [87]

Generic Combinations

• Milax gagates (Draparnaud, 1801).

Distribution

States

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

Extra Distribution Information

Throughout SE Australia. Native to western Mediterannean area

Introduced from Canary Islands and the Mediterranean.

IBRA

ACT, NSW, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Ben Lomond (BEL), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Kimberley (CK), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), 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), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), King (KIN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Murchison (MUR), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), Northern Kimberley (NK), 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), 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), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • New South Wales: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • South Australia: S Gulfs, SE coastal
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria: Murray-Darling basin, SE coastal
  • Western Australia: SW coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Crop, gardens, nocturnal, under debris, under logs.

Extra Ecological Information

Grazer, suburban cultivated, nurseries

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 (anatomy)

Barker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand, 38. Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand : Manaaki Whenua Press 253 pp. [87-90]

Runham, N.W. & Hunter, P.J. 1970. Terrestrial Slugs. London : Hutchinson 184 pp. (physiology, ecology, management)

Common Name References

Barker, G.M. 1999. Naturalised terrestrial Stylommatophora (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Fauna of New Zealand, 38. Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand : Manaaki Whenua Press 253 pp. [89] (Jet Slug)

History of changes