Rathouisia pantherina
| Rathouisia pantherina | |
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| Species: | R. pantherina
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| Binomial name | |
| Rathouisia pantherina | |
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Rathouisia tantherina (orth. error) | |
Rathouisia pantherina is a species of carnivorous air-breathing land slug, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Rathouisiidae.
The specific name pantherina is from Latin word "pantherinus", that means "panther-like", referring to the predatory nature of the slug.
Taxonomy
Rathouisia pantherina was first described by the Jesuit zoologist and missionary to China Pierre Marie Heude in his 1882 essay series "Notes sur les Mollusques terrestres de la vallée du Fleuve Bleu".[2][3] Heude noted at the time that denoting R. pantherina as a separate species was only provisional, because it may one day be reunited with congener R. tigrina.[2] This has not yet occurred.
Distribution
[edit]Rathouisia pantherina is endemic to China. [4]
The two original Rathouisia pantherina specimens studied by Heude[2] were found on limestone cliffs in Tchen-k‘eou, now known as Chengkou, Chongqing Province, China.[5][2]
Description
[edit]Rathouisia pantherina is smaller than Rathouisia leonina.[6]
Rathouisia pantherina has an elongated and ovular body.[2] It is longer than congener R. tigrina, but shorter than congerner R. leonina.[6] The color of its body is gray, and its epidermis is semi-transparent and reticulated.[2] It has dorsal markings characterized by irregular polygonal patterns and shapeless spots.[6] It does not have an internalized shell.[7]
Rathouisia pantherina feature a buccal mass with a radula that forms a protrusible proboscis, characteristic of Rathouisiids, and lack a jaw.[8] Rathouisiids also have a slim yet robust esophagus, with walls composed of extensively folded epithelium reinforced by connective tissue and an envelope of muscle. Their stomachs are simply a sack with merged openings for the esophagus, digestive gland, and intestine. The intestine itself follows a straight path diagonally across the body cavity, ending at the anus, which is located in their parapodial groove at the anterior right.[8]
Development
[edit]Rathouisia pantherina are externally bilaterally symmetrical with a head featuring a pair of tentacles.[9][10] Characteristic of Euthyneura, their nervous systems are also mostly symmetrical, lacking the effects of torsion typical of gastropod bodies.[10] Overall, their internal structures are still asymmetrical.[11]
Rathouisia pantherina develop mosaically, meaning the blastomeres exhibit distinct spatial orientation. The blastomeres also display limited developmental potential, and an early determination of cell fate during embryonic development. The cell cleavage pattern is spiral and dextral.[11]
Rathouisia pantherina are protostomes and direct developers. The developing blastula fulfills gastrulation, and becomes a prototroch larva. R. pantherina is a gastropod, so the blastula is a stereoblastula with a limited blastocoel. The veliger stage emerges as the prototroch matures into a velum. This provides mobility to the larvae. This process occurs within an egg for terrestrial slugs such as R. pantherina.[11]
Habitat
Rathouisia pantherina inhabits a subtropical monsoon humid climate.[12][6] The average annual rainfall in their region is 39-55 inches. Most of this rainfall occurs between the months of May and September. The region’s topography includes middle-to-low height mountains and hills. Overall, mountains account for three quarters of the ground area.[12]
Rathouisia pantherina is inactive under natural ground litter layers in the dry season.[6] In the rainy season, it takes advantage of the humidity and begins to move within the litter layers, resting on cool, smooth, surfaces, such as limestone.[6][2] However, it does not like extremely damp conditions.[13]
Feeding Habits
Rathouisia pantherina is carnivorous, preying on snails.[6][8] With the help of its protrusible proboscis, it bursts into the apertures of the snail’s shell and feasts on their flesh.[8][13][14] For more difficult or older snails, R. pantherina switches to drilling a hole into their shell and digging out the flesh.[14] This process can take anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours, depending on the size of the victim.[13]
Rathouisia pantherina can survive on one meal for two or three days. This is because it consumes the entire body of the snail.[13] When an R. pantherina has moved through an area, empty snail shells will be found. The number of empty snail shells found can be used to estimate R. pantherina population numbers.[15]
Reproduction and Offspring
Rathouisia pantherina mating season is the end of April to early May.[16] R. pantherina prepares itself for mating by eating fewer meals. In the early morning, it mates with another individual by placing its foot against the other individual's foot.[13] Upon contact, the penuses of the individuals come out and directly penetrate the vaginas.[16][13] Adhesion and penetration lasts most of the day.[13]
Rathouisia pantherina then lays spherical or ellipsoidal eggs out in two clutches one month later.[6][13] Three weeks later, the baby slugs hatch and feed on albumin secreted by microphytes and the mucus of other gastropods.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ (in French) Heude P. M. (1882–1890). "Notes sur les Mollusques terrestres de la vallée du Fleuve Bleu". Mémoires concernant l'histoire naturelle de l'empire chinois par des pères de la Compagnie de Jésus, Mision Catholique, Chang-Hai, page 133, plate 36, fig. 23.
- ^ a b c d e f g Heude, Pierre Marie (1882). Notes sur les mollusques terrestres de la Vallée du Fleuve Bleu. Smithsonian Libraries. [Chang-Hai : Impr. de la Mission catholique].
- ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pierre Heude". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
- ^ Manganelli, G.; Lesicki, A.; Benocci, A.; Barbato, D.; Miserocchi, D.; Pienkowska, J. R.; Giusti, F. (9 June 2022). "A small slug from a tropical greenhouse reveals a new rathouisiid lineage with triaulic tritrematic genitalia (Gastropoda: Systellommatophora)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 197: 76–103. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac054. hdl:11365/1240536. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
- ^ Páll-Gergely, Barna; Hunyadi, András; Chen, Zhe-Yu; Lyu, Zhi-Tong (December 2019). "A review of the genus Coccoglypta Pilsbry, 1895 (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Camaenidae)". Zoosystema. 41 (1): 595–608. doi:10.5252/zoosystema2019v41a29. ISSN 1280-9551. S2CID 214105608.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wu M., Guo J.-Y., Wan F.-H., Qin Q.-L., Wu Q. & Wiktor A. (2006). "A preliminary study of the predatory terrestrial mollusk Rathouisia leonina". The Veliger 48: 61-74.
- ^ Schilthuizen, M.; Liew, T. S. (1 November 2023). "The slugs and semislugs of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (Gastropoda, Pulmonata: Veronicellidae, Rathouisiidae, Ariophantidae, Limacidae, Philomycidae)". ResearchGate.
- ^ a b c d Barker, G. (1 November 2023). "Gastropods on Land: Phylogeny, Diversity and Adaptive Morphology. I". ResearchGate.
- ^ Schroedl, M.; Jörger, K. M.; Klussmann-Kolb, A.; Wilson, N. (1 November 2023). "Bye bye 'Opisthobranchia'! A review on the contribution of Mesopsammic sea slugs to euthyneuran systematics". ResearchGate.
- ^ a b Brenzinger, Bastian; Schrödl, Michael; Kano, Yasunori (2021-10-25). "Origin and significance of two pairs of head tentacles in the radiation of euthyneuran sea slugs and land snails". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 21016. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1121016B. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-99172-5. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8545979. PMID 34697382.
- ^ a b c Winston Frank Ponder; David R. Lindberg; Juliet Mary Ponder (2020-01-30). Biology and Evolution of the Mollusca. Vol. 1. Boca Raton: CRC Press. doi:10.1201/9781351115667. ISBN 978-1-351-11566-7. S2CID 208551167.
- ^ a b Lu, Dan; Wang, Yahui; Yang, Qingyuan; Wang, Zhanpeng; Lin, Aiwen; Tang, Yuxue; Li, Yuanqing (2022-05-01). "Effects of population spatial redistribution on vegetation greenness: A case study of Chongqing, China". Ecological Indicators. 138: 108803. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108803. ISSN 1470-160X. S2CID 247829593.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Laidlaw, F. F. (July 1940). "Notes on some specimens of the genus Atopos (Mollusca: Pulmonata) with microphotographs illustrating points in the anatomy of the genus" (PDF). Bulletin of the Raffles Museum. 16: 123 – via Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum Faculty of Science.
- ^ a b Liew, Thor-Seng; Schilthuizen, Menno (2014-04-01). "Association between shell morphology of micro-land snails (genus Plectostoma) and their predator's predatory behaviour". PeerJ. 2: e329. doi:10.7717/peerj.329. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 3976122. PMID 24749008.
- ^ Schilthuizen, M.; Liew, T. S. (1 November 2023). "The slugs and semislugs of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (Gastropoda, Pulmonata: Veronicellidae, Rathouisiidae, Ariophantidae, Limacidae, Philomycidae)". ResearchGate.
- ^ a b Heude, Pierre Marie; Rathouis, C. (1882). "Quelques remarques sur les moeurs et habitudes du Rathouisia leonina". Notes sur les mollusques terrestres de la Vallée du Fleuve Bleu. Chang-Hai: Impr. de la Mission catholique. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.50365.