Species spotlight IV

Lehmannia melitensis (Lessona & Pollonera, 1882)

Mdina, Malta

Lehmannia melitensis (Lessona & Pollonera, 1882) is a slug and thus appears shell-less, though a thin shell called limacella is present inside the body of the animal. This slug seems to be prevalent in the areas from Ta' Qali up to Rabat and varies from very light grey to almost black. It is similar to another more common slug called Milax nigricans (Philippi, 1836), which, however, has an angled dorsal side.

Lehmannia melitensis (Lessona & Pollonera, 1882)
Buskett, Malta

L. melitensis is distributed throughout Malta, Sicily, Sardinia and other places. Maltese specimens are usually greyer than those from other places. More information on this species and its congener Lehmannia valentiana (Férussac, 1822) may be found here.

Identification

• grey or black
• dark stripes running along its upper body
• fingerprint pattern on back
• rounded back