Mariaella beddomei is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of air-breathing land slug

Slug

Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...

, a terrestrial

Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ariophantidae

Ariophantidae

Ariophantidae is a taxonomic family of air-breathing land snails and semi-slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicarionoidea .- Distribution :...

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The specific name is in honor of Richard Henry Beddome

Richard Henry Beddome

Colonel Richard Henry Beddome was a British military officer in India, chief conservator of the Madras Forest Department and a naturalist...

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Distribution

This species lives in India. It is endemic to Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

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Its localities include Travancore Hills.

Shell description

The internal shell

Gastropod shell

The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...

 is thinner than in Mariaella dussumieri

Mariaella dussumieri

Mariaella dussumieri is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Ariophantidae.Mariaella dussumieri is the type species of the genus Mariaella....

, shelly, flat and smooth beneath, white, with close, concentric lines of growth.

The length of the adult shell is 12 mm, the breath is 6.5 mm.

Anatomy

The body of the animal animal varying greatly in color from uniform ochre to deep grey-black or spotted. There are no raised ridges on the shell-lobes. It is externally similar to Mariaella dussumieri, but larger, about 4 inches (101.6 mm) in length when fully extended.

It have more numerous teeth in the radula

Radula

The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...

, the number in a row being 122 . 5 . 21 . 1 . 21 . 5 . 122 (148 . 1 . 148), and the shape differing somewhat. There are also differences in the genitalia, the spermatheca and the expansion in the free oviduct (ovitheca) having different forms.