Paua slug

Taxobox
name = Paua slug


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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Pulmonata
familia = Rhytididae
genus = "Schizoglossa"
species = "S. novoseelandica"
binomial = "Schizoglossa novoseelandica"
binomial_authority = Hedley, 1892

The paua slug, "Schizoglossa novoseelandica", is a small air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial gastropod mollusc in the family Rhytididae.

Distribution

This slug is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand.

Description

This slug (and the other species in the same genus) have a shell which is reduced to little more than a cover for the viscera. The shell resembles the shell of an abalone, hence its name; paua is the Māori word for abalone. The shell of this slug is thin, opaque, and is covered by a thin, shining, greenish-olive periostracum.

The length of the shell of this slug is between 5.8 and 20 mm, with a width of 4 to 12 mm.

Life habits

The paua slug lives on land and feeds on worms.

There are two subspecies:

* "Schizoglossa novoseelandica novoseelandica" - on the New Zealand mainland.
* "Schizoglossa novoseelandica barrierensis" - found only on the Great Barrier Island.

References

* Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1