Sarasinula marginata 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 Veronicellidae

Veronicellidae

The Veronicellidae, common name the leatherleaf slugs, are a terrestrial family of pulmonate slugs.This family has no subfamilies ....

, the leatherleaf slugs.

Description

Sarasinula marginata is superficially very similar to Sarasinula plebeia

Sarasinula plebeia

Sarasinula plebeia, common name the bean slug, is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Veronicellidae, the leatherleaf slugs.-Distribution:...

, however it can be distinguished from that species by minor differences in the male genitalia.

Distribution

Sarasinula marginata is found in countries and islands including:

• Dominica. First reported in 2009.
• Guadeloupe
• Brazil, (Paraiba to Rio Grande do Sul)
• Peru
• Colombia

Ecology

This species was found in a dasheen (Colocasia esculenta

Colocasia esculenta

Colocasia esculenta is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms, the root vegetables whose many names include Taro and Eddoe. It is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants.-Description:Rhizomes of different shapes and sizes...

) field in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 island of Dominica. It appears to be a minor pest in the agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

of Dominica.