1. Guides
  2. Land Snails and Slugs of San Francisco
  3. Reticulate Taildropper

Reticulate Taildropper

Prophysaon andersoni

Summary 3

Prophysaon andersoni, common name the reticulate taildropper, is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs.

Description 4

External: Light brown to red-gray or yellowish body; mantle often light, granular, and without a narrow yellow border; dark blotches or broad stripes usually present on each side of mantle; pneumostome medial or ante-medial on mantle; diamond reticulate pattern on dorsum; no keel; tail constriction may be marked by a gray line on the sole; part of tail that can be amputated about 20 to 25% total body length; tail tapers gradually so posterior half of body in top view has convex sides; foot fringe usually without dark vertical bars (but sometimes faint); yellow to orange body mucus; bright white sole.

Internal: Strong internal shell.

Mantle texture rougher, more strongly granular than in P. foliolatum.

Size 5

30 to 62 mm long.

Habitat 6

Forests and somewhat disturbed habitat; under logs, rocks, and vegetation and in leaf litter (Forsyth 2004).

Life cycle 7

Mature in late summer and fall (Forsyth 2004).

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ken-ichi Ueda
  2. (c) J. Maughn, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by J. Maughn, https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmaughn/15947030816/
  3. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophysaon_andersoni
  4. Adapted by Ken-ichi Ueda from a work by (c) Paustian, Megan; William P. Leonard; Casey H. Richart; Timothy A. Pearce; Paul A. Hohenlohe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/17765349
  5. Adapted by Ken-ichi Ueda from a work by (c) William P. Leonard; Casey H. Richart; Timothy A. Pearce; Paul A. Hohenlohe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/13239102
  6. Adapted by Ken-ichi Ueda from a work by (c) Paustian, Megan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/13239104
  7. Adapted by Ken-ichi Ueda from a work by (c) Paustian, Megan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/13239105

More Info

iNat Map

Establishment native
Slug or snail slug
Member of the iNaturalist Network   |   Powered by iNaturalist open source software |   Documentation for developers