Top 10 - 2009

Welsh Rare Bit

(Adult Ghost Slug and it's blade-like teeth each about 0.5mm long) Photos courtesy of Ben Rowson

Name: Selenochlamys ysbryda

Common Name: Ghost Slug

Family: Trigonochlamydidae

How it made the list: This charismatic, introduced species was a surprising find in such a well-collected and densely populated area.

Reference: Rowson, B. & W.O.C. Symondson. 2008. Selenochlamys ysbryda sp. nov. from Wales, UK: A Testacella-like slug new to Western Europe (Stylommatophora: Trigonochlamydidae). Journal of Conchology 39(5):537-552.

Type material: "Holotype (one adult, dissected): UK: Wales: Glamorgan: Cardiff: domestic garden in Canton (ST1676), 10-15m alt., leg. P. Thomas 28 Sep 2007, det. B. Rowson & W. O. C. Symondson (NMW.Z.2008.005.00001; 80% ethanol). S. ysbryda sp. nov., Paratype 1 (one adult, dissected): UK: Wales: Glamorgan: Cardiff: domestic garden in Canton (ST1676), 10-15m alt., leg. B. Rowson 8 Oct 2007, det. B. Rowson & W. O. C. Symondson (NMW.Z.2008.005.00002; 80% ethanol)." [For additional paratypes see Rowson & Symondson (2008)].

Type locality: Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales, UK.

Etymology: "Specific epithet ysbryda, from Welsh “ysbryd,” a ghost or spirit, latinized by the addition of a feminine ending 'a' and to be treated as a noun in apposition. The name alludes to the species’ ghostly appearance, nocturnal, predatory behaviour and the element of mystery surrounding its origin."

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