Sharp-Toothed Slug Found in Welsh Garden, Named New Species
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
National Museum of Wales
The 'ghost slug' is shown. Experts have named it a new species, the Selenochlamys ysbryda, after finding it in a Welsh garden.
Experts say a slug with blade-like teeth found in a Welsh garden is a new species, the BBC reported.
The creature was discovered in Cardiff last year and sucks in earthworms like spaghetti, the BBC said on Thursday. Another was found in Caerphilly.
Called the "ghost slug," the Selenochlamys ysbryda has no eyes or bodily coloring and likely evolved in a cave system, according to experts at the National Museum of Wales and Cardiff University.
"It was probably introduced to Britain in plant pots, making it an 'alien' species, although we can't be certain," said Bill Symondson, an ecologist at Cardiff University. "We're concerned that it might become a pest, but we need to find out more about it first."
