Tandonia rustica
Encyclopedia
Tandonia rustica 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, keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

ed, 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 shell-less 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...

 gastropod mollusk in the family Milacidae
Milacidae
Milacidae is a family of air-breathing, keeled, land slugs. These are shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Parmacelloidea.This family has no subfamilies ....

.

Distribution

This slug is native to Europe.
  • Not listed in IUCN red list
    IUCN Red List
    The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

     - not evaluated (NE)
  • Czech Republic
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Slovakia
  • Great Britain
  • Ireland
  • and other areas


This species has not yet become established in the USA, but it is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

 which could negatively effect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....

significance in the USA.
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