Tropical leatherleaf

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Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Pulmonata
Suborder:	Systellommatophora
Family:	Veronicellidae
Genus:	Laevicaulis
Species:	L. alte

Binomial name

Laevicaulis alte
(Férussac, 1822)

Synonyms

Vaginulus alte Ferussac, 1821

The tropical leatherleaf, scientific name Laevicaulis alte, is a species of tropical slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk.

This slug thrives in arid habitats.

1 Description
2 Parasites
3 Predators
4 Distribution
5 Habitat
6 Food items
7 Behavior
8 Recommended literature
9 References

[edit] Description

Laevicaulis alte is a round, dark-coloured slug without a shell, 7 or 8 cm long. Its skin is slightly tuberculated. The central keel is beige in colour.

This slug has a unique, very narrow foot; juvenile specimens have a foot 1 mm wide and adult specimens have a foot that is only 4 or 5 mm wide.

The tentacles are small, 2 or 3 mm long, and they are only rarely extended beyond the edge of the mantle.

View of contracted specimen. The anterior end is to the right.

[edit] Parasites

This slug is an intermediate host for Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the rat lungworm, a round worm, the most common cause of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis. [1]

[edit] Predators

This slug is eaten by the frog Rana tigrina [2]

[edit] Distribution

This species is probably indigenous in Africa (western Africa and eastern Africa). It has been introduced and become an invasive species [3] in the following areas:

- southern Asia
- China (Taiwan)
- United States (Hawaii) ([4])
- islands in the Indian Ocean
- Australia (since 1889)
- Samoa
- ...

[edit] Habitat

This species lives in dry areas, mostly at lower altitudes.

Ventral view of foot of juvenile specimen

[edit] Food items

What this slug eats in the wild is not known. In captivity this slug will eat:

Dandelion leaves
Tomatoes - it nibbles the skin first and then the pulp
cucumber
apples
spinach
When other items are not available, it will eat dill

In captivity it will not eat:

grapes
dogs

[edit] Behavior

This slug hatches from eggs. This species has several adaptations for living in dry conditions: a rounded shape with as small as possible surface area, and a narrow foot to reduce evaporation.

Juvenile specimens search for food nearly always at night, and stay buried in the soil during the day. Larger specimens are active during the day sometimes. This slug can grow up from 0.5 cm to approximately 4 cm in length in 7 months.