Prophysaon, common name taildropper slugs, is a genus of air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Ariolimacidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Prophysaon Bland & W.G. Binney, 1873. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=995729 on 2021-08-26
These slugs can self-amputate (autotomy) a portion of their tail,Rory J. Mc Donnel, Timothy D. Paine & Michael J. Gormally. 2009. Slugs: A Guide to the Invasive and Native Fauna of California . 21 pp., . page 9 a behavior observed in the species Prophysaon andersonii.Hand, C., and W.M. Ingram. 1950. Natural history observations on Prophysaon andersoni (J.G. Cooper) with special reference to amputation. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 49: 15-28.
Distribution This genus of slugs occurs in North America, including California and Oregon.
Species Species in the genus Prophysaon include 10 species (9 according to Turgeon et al. 1998Thomas E. Burke. MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TERRESTRIAL MOLLUSK SPECIES Prophysaon coeruleum, Blue-Gray Taildropper & Prophysaon dubium, Papillose Taildropper http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/surveyandmanage/MR/TM4Species/2000-015_3.pdfITIS accessed 17 January 2009. plus one known undescribed species): Prophysaon andersonii (J. G. Cooper, 1872) - reticulate taildropper, Anderson's taildropper slug Prophysaon boreale Pilsbry, 1948 - northern taildropper Prophysaon coeruleum Cockerell, 1890 - blue-gray taildropper Prophysaon dubium Cockerell, 1890 - papillose taildropper Prophysaon fasciatum Cockerell in W. G. Binney - banded taildropper Prophysaon foliolatum (Gould, 1851) - yellow-bordered taildropper Prophysaon humile Cockerell, 1890 - smoky taildropper Prophysaon obscurum (Cockerell, 1890) - mottled taildropper Prophysaon vanattae Pilsbry, 1948 - scarlet-backed taildropper Prophysaon vanattae var. pardalis Prophysaon undescribed species from Siskiyou County, California.Roth B. & Sadeghian P. S. 2006. Checklist of the Land Snails and Slugs of California. Contributions in Science 3. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, California. 82 pp. Species brought into synonymy Prophysaon flavum Cockerell, 1890: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872) Prophysaon hemphilli Bland & W. G. Binney, 1873: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872) Prophysaon pacificum Cockerell, 1890: synonym of Prophysaon andersonii (J.G. Cooper, 1872)
References
External links information about Prophysaon andersoni: http://www.livinglandscapes.bc.ca/cbasin/molluscs/arionidae.html Wilke T. & Duncan N. 2004. . Molecular Ecology, volume 13, issue 8, pages 2303–2315. Prophysaon sp. 1 A Terrestrial Slug. NatureServe Explorer.