Testacella

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Genus of gastropods

title: "Testacella" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["testacellidae"] description: "Genus of gastropods" topic_path: "general/testacellidae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testacella" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of gastropods ::

| fossil_range= | image = Testacella haliotidea.jpg | image_caption = Shelled Slug, Testacella haliotidea | taxon = Testacella | parent_authority = J. E. Gray, 1840 | authority = Draparnaud, 1801 |type_species= Testacella haliotidea Draparnaud, 1801 |synonyms=

  • Testacella (Testacella) Lamarck, 1801 · alternate representation
  • Testacella (Testacelloides) A. J. Wagner, 1914 · alternate representation
  • Testacellus Montfort, 1810 ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Testacella_maugei.JPG" caption="''[[Testacella maugei]]'' in the contracted state"] ::

Testacella is genus of small to medium-large, predatory, air-breathing, land slugs.

They are terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the family Testacellidae, the shelled slugs. They are not often seen because they live underground.

Testacella is the only genus in the family, in other words it is a monotypic family. Testacella is the type genus of the family Testacellidae.

Distribution

Species within this genus of slugs live in north Africa, southern and western Europe, and Britain.

Species

Species within the genus Testacella include:

Description

These slugs have a very small, ear-shaped shell, which is situated far back on their bodies.

In the family Testacellidae, the number of haploid chromosomes lies between 31 and 35.

Habitat

These slugs are rarely observed, but they tend to live in gardens and farms where there is rich soil and a lot of earthworms.

Life habits

These slugs live underground and hunt earthworms. They are usually only seen when they are forced up to the surface because the soil has become completely saturated with rain. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Testacella.jpg" caption="Drawing from 1896 showing the three species of ''Testacella'' found in [[Great Britain]]
"] ::

1 - Testacella haliotidea

2 - Testacella scutulum

3 - Testacella maugei]]

References

References

  1. [http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de/zooweb/servlet/AnimalBase/home/family?id=42 "Family summary for Testacellidae"]. AnimalBase, last modified 8 August 2010, accessed 28 June 2011.
  2. Gray J. E. (1840). [A new edition of] ''A manual of the land and fresh-water shells of the British Isles by W. Turton''. Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, London. ix + 324 pp., 12 plates. [https://archive.org/stream/manualoflandfres01turt#page/108/mode/2up page 109].
  3. Draparnaud J. P. R. (1801). ''Tableau des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France''. 116 pp. Montpellier, Paris. (Renaud; Bossange, Masson & Besson). page [https://archive.org/stream/tableaudesmollus00drap#page/32/mode/2up 33], [https://archive.org/stream/tableaudesmollus00drap#page/98/mode/2up 99].
  4. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Testacella Lamarck, 1801. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=818595 on 2022-09-13
  5. {{Bouchet 2005
  6. [[Antoni Józef Wagner. Wagner A. J.]] (1914). ''[[Anz. Akad. Wiss. Wien]]'' '''51''': 335.
  7. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121014211645/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=431041 "''Testacelloides'' A.J. Wagner, 1914"]. [[Fauna Europaea]], last update 27 January 2011, accessed 28 June 2011.
  8. [http://www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de/zooweb/servlet/AnimalBase/list/species?taxongenus=324 "Species in genus ''Testacella''"] (n=6). [[AnimalBase]], accessed 19 January 2011.
  9. 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited pages: 139 and 142.

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testacellidae