About this tool
About the key
This key was created to assist inspectors at U.S. ports of entry who are inspecting cargo to determine the identity of potentially important, invading organisms, specifically terrestrial mollusks. It is acknowledged that the scope of this key may be larger and as such may be used as an educational tool for a variety of fields.
The taxonomy of terrestrial mollusks is very dynamic, hence a large number of the entitiesEntities:
See also entity
(species, families, groups) included in this key may have been and continue to be revised. For each entityEntity:
In Lucid, entities are the items the key aims to identify. Lucid uses the term entity to encompass items of all types.
, a list of synonyms has been included in the supporting fact sheets to assist in clarifying the nomenclature.
It is recommended that the user read the Background and scope and the Biology sections of this tool before attempting to use the pictorial key. The key can reliably identify only adult specimens, as juveniles may not possess the characteristic features of the species. This is true for both snails and slugs. Slugs are generally more difficult to key to the species level and often require dissection. If dissection is necessary, there is a dissection tutorial available in this tool to assist the user to successfully dissect a snail and/or a slugSlug:
A snail that either does not possess a shell or has one that is very reduced (no definite coiling) or internal.
.
Equipment required for the optimal use of this key:
- hand lens (10-20 X)
- ruler or caliper
- adult specimens
- anatomy drawing (located in Biology section)
It is important to remember that this key is not inclusive of all pestiferous mollusk species. This key is intended to serve as an aid in the identification of terrestrial mollusk species documented as major agricultural and ecological pests as well as contaminant and non-pest species that are commonly intercepted at U.S. ports of entry.
