This article focuses only on one specialized aspect of the subject. Please help improve this article by adding general information and discuss at the talk page.(December 2014)
Mating Cornu aspersum garden snailsThe terrestrial slug Arion vulgaris, a mating pair with intertwined, everted penises, carrying out external sperm exchangeThe nudibranch sea slug Nembrotha rutilans, a mating pair
The mating of gastropods is a vast and varied topic, because the taxonomic class Gastropoda is very large and diverse, a group comprising sea snails and sea slugs, freshwater snails and land snails and slugs. Gastropods are second only to the class Insecta in terms of total number of species. Some gastropods have separate sexes, others are hermaphroditic. Some hermaphroditic groups have simultaneous hermaphroditism, whereas some sequential hermaphroditism. In addition, numerous very different mating strategies are used within different taxa.
This article currently focuses primarily on the mating habits of air-breathing terrestrial slugs. Land slugs can be thought of as land snails that over evolutionary time have either lost the shell completely, have a very reduced external shell, or have retained only internal remnants of a shell. Land slugs are a highly polyphyletic group, which means that many land slug families are not at all closely related to one another.
The majority of land slugs are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning they possess both male and female reproductive organs that are functional at the same time. Some species regularly self-fertilise. Uniparental reproduction may also occur by apomixis, an asexual process.[1]
For the most part, however, land slugs do mate: they find partners, and engage in elaborate courtship rituals before actual sperm transfer takes place. It is common for slugs to mate in a simultaneous reciprocal manner, as occurs in the monophyletic groups Limacoidea and Philomycidae.[2] Limacoidea comprises the family Limacidae (the keelback slugs) and the largest genus of slugs, Deroceras, which contains over 100 known species.[3] Sperm transfer may be external (as in Deroceras) or internal (as in Ariolimax).
^Leonard, Janet L.; Westfall, Jane A.; Pearse, John S. (2007). "Phally polymorphism and reproductive biology in Ariolimax (Ariolimax) buttoni (Pilsbry and Vanatta, 1896) (Stylommatophora: Arionidae)". American Malacological Bulletin. 23: 121–135. doi:10.4003/0740-2783-23.1.121. S2CID 86089425.
^Davison, Angus; Wade, Christopher M.; Mordan, Peter B.; Chiba, Satoshi (2005). "Sex and darts in slugs and snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)". Journal of Zoology. 267 (4): 329–338. doi:10.1017/S0952836905007648.
^Reise, Heike (2007). "A review of mating behavior in slugs of the genus Deroceras (Pulmonata: Agriolimacidae)". American Malacological Bulletin. 23: 137–156. doi:10.4003/0740-2783-23.1.137. S2CID 29257202.
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The matingofgastropods is a vast and varied topic, because the taxonomic class Gastropoda is very large and diverse, a group comprising sea snails and...
also vary greatly. In many marine gastropods, there are separate sexes (male and female); most terrestrial gastropods however are hermaphrodites.[citation...
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very first time it mates, because the first mating is necessary to trigger the process of dart formation. Once a snail has mated, it fires a dart before...
individuals to be sperm donors. This mechanism of size-assortative mating is common among gastropods. The scarcity of natural predators for sea hares has long...
to major rivers. The great majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions. Some groups of snails that live in freshwater respire...
includes not just land snails but also numerous species of sea snails and freshwater snails. Gastropods that naturally lack a shell, or have only an internal...
males at 44 cm. Mating and egg laying occurs inshore. Finucci, B.; Pacoureau, N. (2020). "Callorhinchus capensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species...
sensory organs ofgastropods (snails and slugs) include olfactory organs, eyes, statocysts and mechanoreceptors. Gastropods have no sense of hearing. In...
Terrestrial gastropods are primarily herbivores and only a few groups are carnivorous. Carnivorous gastropods usually feed on other gastropod species or...
common ancestor of all gastropods was marine). The majority of land snails are pulmonates that have a lung and breathe air. Most of the non-pulmonate...
the apophallated slug can mate as a female. It has been proposed that it might be adaptive for a slug to apophallate the mating partner because that partner...
as does every other kind ofgastropod, from marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats. The reproductive system ofgastropods also produces mucus internally...
applies to gastropods that have a coiled shell large enough that they can fully retract their soft parts into it). Various taxonomic families of land slugs...
Phylliroe bucephalum. The body forms of nudibranchs vary greatly. Because they are opisthobranchs, unlike most other gastropods, they are apparently bilaterally...
of one individual is inserted into the genital opening of another, chains or clusters ofmating sea hares can form. The initially spawning individual releases...
tails. They are skilled climbers and primarily hunt by sound and scent. Mating occurs between June and August, and litters typically have two or three...
particularly aggressive during mating season and even display mate guarding. Mate guarding thus lasts through a major portion of the mating season, which appears...
allows them to mate as either sex or even fertilize themselves. The versatile slime also plays a role in their mating rituals. During the mating phase, banana...
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Unlike most nudibranchs, which mate with their right sides facing, sea swallows mate with ventral sides facing. After mating, both individuals are able to...
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