e-loquence asks: Do you know what type of slug this is? O:
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Paxon: Well, I found the original photograph here. Photographer, Dan Rosenberg took this photo in Rwenzori National Park, Uganda. He did not identify the species.
My first inclination was to think that it might have been an introduced white form (not uncommon) of the northern European Black Slug (Arion ater). It’s cool enough up in the mountains there for this species to live, but its pretty distant from former european settlement where garden species might have escaped. Also, its unlikely, because the skirt around the foot of A. ater is usually yellowish when the individual is white. Still, it’s a possibility. (It was successfully and unintentionally introduced into the Pacific NW of the United States/Canada.)
Another possibility is that its a not well known, or even scientifically undescribed species. Believe it or not, there isn’t alot of work out there on central African terrestrial gastropods :S This is the more likely scenario. It’s probably in the same family as A. ater (family Arionidae), as it resembles many of the other species in this family.
:3
