Prophysaon

Prophysaon
	Prophysaon andersoni
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Infraorder:	Arionoidei
Superfamily:	Arionoidea
Family:	Ariolimacidae
Genus:	Prophysaon; Bland & W. G. Binney, 1873
Synonyms
	Limacarion J.G. Cooper, 1879; Phenacarion Cockerell, 1890; Prophysaon (Mimetarion) Pilsbry, 1948· accepted, alternate representation; Prophysaon (Prophysaon) Bland & W.G. Binney, 1873· accepted, alternate representation;

Prophysaon, common name taildropper slugs, is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Ariolimacidae.^[2]

These slugs can self-amputate (autotomy) a portion of their tail.^[3] This autotomy has been observed in the species Prophysaon andersoni.^[4]

Distribution

This genus of slugs occurs in North America, including California and Oregon.

Species in the genus Prophysaon include 10 species (9 according to Turgeon et al. 1998^[5]^[6] plus one known undescribed species^[3]):

Prophysaon andersoni (J. G. Cooper, 1872) - Reticulate Taildropper, Anderson's Taildropper Slug
Prophysaon boreale Pilsbry, 1948 - Northern Taildropper
Prophysaon coeruleum Cockerell, 1890 - Blue-Gray Taildropper
Prophysaon dubium Cockerell, 1890 - Papillose Taildropper
Prophysaon fasciatum Cockerell in W. G. Binney - Banded Taildropper
Prophysaon foliolatum (Gould, 1851) - Yellow-bordered Taildropper
Prophysaon humile Cockerell, 1890 - Smoky Taildropper
Prophysaon obscurum (Cockerell, 1890) - Mottled Taildropper
Prophysaon vanattae Pilsbry, 1948 - Scarlet-backed Taildropper
- Prophysaon vanattae var. pardalis
Prophysaon undescribed species from Siskiyou County, California.^[3]^[7]

Prophysaon flavum Cockerell, 1890: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)
Prophysaon hemphilli Bland & W. G. Binney, 1873: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)
Prophysaon pacificum Cockerell, 1890: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)

^ Bland, Thomas; Binney, W. G. (1873). "On Prophysaon, a New Pulmonate Mollusk, on Ariolimax, on Helix Lymnuchus and Other Species". Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 10: 293.
^ MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Prophysaon Bland & W.G. Binney, 1873. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=995729 on 2021-08-26
^ ^a ^b ^c Rory J. Mc Donnel, Timothy D. Paine & Michael J. Gormally. 2009. Slugs: A Guide to the Invasive and Native Fauna of California Archived 2011-07-04 at the Wayback Machine. 21 pp., ISBN 978-1-60107-564-2. page 9
^ Hand, C., and W.M. Ingram. 1950. Natural history observations on Prophysaon andersoni (J.G. Cooper) with special reference to amputation. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 49: 15-28.
^ Thomas E. Burke. MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TERRESTRIAL MOLLUSK SPECIES Prophysaon coeruleum, Blue-Gray Taildropper & Prophysaon dubium, Papillose Taildropper http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/surveyandmanage/MR/TM4Species/2000-015_3.pdf
^ ITIS accessed 17 January 2009.
^ Roth B. & Sadeghian P. S. 2006. Checklist of the Land Snails and Slugs of California. Contributions in Science 3. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, California. 82 pp.