Distribution
Other slug species in this family are found in Turkey and Georgia, but no representatives have been found and described in Western Europe prior to this discovery. Although the species is almost certainly introduced, its country of origin and how it made its way into Britain was unknown at the time of its original description. Bill Symondson speculated that the slug originally evolved in cave systems alien to the UK, and may possibly have arrived in Wales in soil in a potted plant.
The first specimen was collected in the churchyard of Brecon cathedral on 29 December 2004, but its significance was overlooked at the time. A second specimen was found in a lane in Caerphilly on 29 October 2006. This single specimen was photographed and then released. A year later, another slug was found by a gardener near Cardiff, Wales, where it was brought to the attention of the National Museum Wales. Additional ghost slugs have been found in Gorseinon, near Swansea, Wales, Hay-on-Wye (Welsh Borders), and Knowle, near Bristol, England.
The slug is not harmful to humans, but as a presumed introduced species, more records from Britain are being solicited, partly on the basis of an appeal to the public. As more information is gathered, the distribution of the species will be monitored to check that it does not become an invasive pest species as it presumably spreads across South Wales.
In 2012, a specimen of what is probably the same species, Selenochlamys cf. ysbryda, was rediscovered in the Crimean mountains in Ukraine. A single immature specimen had been collected in a natural mountain forest in 1989. This is the first record of Trigonochlamydidae in Crimea. This Crimean specimen differs from Selenochlamys pallida in the same way as does S. ysbryda, so it most likely belongs to the latter species. This slug could be a native to the Crimean Mountains and perhaps endemic there.
Selenochlamys ysbryda was selected as one of "The Top 10 New Species" described in 2008 by The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an international committee of taxonomists.
Read more about this topic: Ghost Slug
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