#panpulmonata

[animalids]

Kaputar slug (Triboniophorus sp. nov. 'Kaputar')

Photo by n.weigner

[dendroica]

Fluorescent pink slug, unique to Australian mountaintop, survives bushfires | The Guardian

A fluorescent pink slug, found only on a single mountaintop in northern New South Wales, has survived the bushfires that burnt through much of its alpine habitat.

Around 60 of the brightly coloured Mount Kaputar slugs, which can grow to a size longer than a human hand, were spotted by National Parks and Wildlife Service rangers after recent rainfall in Mount Kaputar national park.

The Kaputar fire burnt through the area for more than six weeks from October to December 2019, affecting more than 18,000 hectares of land.

The mountain was formed by a now-extinct volcano, and is home to at least 20 species of snails and slugs found nowhere else in the world. The area has been identified as an endangered ecological community, the first of its kind in Australia.

Some of the fluorescent slugs would have managed to survive the fire because they had “retreated into rock crevices” in the heat, the Australian Museum malacologist Frank Köhler said.

But around 90% of the slug population, which also hibernates in bark and trees, would have been killed in the fire, he said.

Much of the slug’s food sources – fungi, moss and mould – would also have been burnt by the fire, but Köhler said these species should recover relatively quickly.

In coming months the slug might be at risk of being seen more easily in the burnt landscape by hungry birds and mammals, said Köhler, but the bright colour could also act as a warning to dissuade the predators.

[nature-and-biodiversity-blog]

Banff Springs Snails Physella johnsoni

[animalids]

Carpathian blue slug (Bielzia coerulans)

Photo by Alan Fenn

[animalids]

Semi-slug (Coloniconcha prima)

Photo by Carlos De Soto Molinari

[animalids]

Red triangle slug (Triboniophorus graeffei)

Photo by Annette Teng

[animalids]

European black slug (Arion ater)

Photo by Michael Rich

[animalids]

Red triangle slug (Triboniophorus graeffei)

Photo by Ken Griffiths