page_title: Kerry slug
section_title: Various organ systems
hierarchical_section_title: Kerry slug / Description / Internal anatomy / Various organ systems
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing of position of renal organ (yellow), heart (red) and retractor muscles of Geomalacus maculosus viewed from below.
context_page_description: The Kerry slug or Kerry spotted slug is a species of terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. It is a medium-to-large sized, air-breathing land slug in the family of roundback slugs, Arionidae.
  Adult Kerry slugs generally measure 7–8 cm in length; they are dark-grey or brown with yellowish spots. The internal anatomy of the slug has some unusual features and some characteristic differences from the genus Arion, also part of Arionidae. The Kerry slug was described in 1843—later than many other relatively large land gastropods present in Ireland and Great Britain—an indication of its restricted distribution and secretive habits.
  Although the distribution of this slug species includes south-western Ireland—including County Kerry—the species is more widespread in north-western Spain and central-to-northern Portugal. It is not found in locations between Ireland and Spain. The species appears to require environments that have high humidity, warm summer temperatures and acidic soils with no calcium carbonate. The slug is mostly nocturnal or crepuscular but in Ireland it is active on overcast days.
context_section_description: The circulatory and excretory systems of the Kerry slug are closely related; the heart is surrounded by the triangular kidney, which has a lamellate (layered) structure and two ureters. In this species, the ventricle of the heart is directed towards, and is very close to, the anal and respiratory openings. The ventricle of the heart is further away and further back than it is in species of the related genus Arion, the type-genus of the family Arionidae.
  The gland above the foot, the suprapedal gland, is deeply imbedded in the tissues and reaches far back. The cephalic (head) gland known as  Semper's organ is well developed and shows as two strong, flattened lobes. The salivary and digestive glands are the same as those found in Arion species but the vestigial osphradium (kidney-like structure) within the mantle chamber is more distinct than it is in Arion species.
caption: Anatomy viewed from below with frontal edge of mantle on the top. Heart (red) is surrounded by renal organ (yellow). Retractor muscles (blue) include retractor muscle of left eye tentacle (depicted on the right), retractor muscle of right eye tentacle and retractor muscle of odontophore (both on the left).
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