The land slug Meghimatium pictum (Stoliczka, 1873), native to China, is recorded for the first time in Brazil. This is also the first record of a species of the eastern Asiatic genus Meghimatium on the American continents. The species was identified using morphological criteria and analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I, COI. Our records indicate this species is widely distributed in southern and southeastern Brazil, in the States of São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, in disturbed and natural areas. We morphologically characterize M. pictum (external characteristics, reproductive system, jaw and radula) and provide some biological information based on field observations. We also discuss when M. pictum was probably introduced, from whence it came, possible pathways of introduction, and its characteristics as an invasive species and potential agricultural pest.
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1 October 2011
A Newly Introduced and Invasive Land Slug in Brazil: Meghimatium pictum (Gastropoda, Philomycidae) from China
Suzete R. Gomes,
Juliane B. Picanço,
Eduardo Colley,
Aisur Ignacio Agudo-Padrón,
Eliana Nakano,
José W. Thomé
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Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
Vol. 161 • No. 1
October 2011
Vol. 161 • No. 1
October 2011
exotic
herbivore
mollusk
Pallifera
