New records of exotic land snails and slugs in Argentina

We announce the presence of two species of exotic terrestrial mollusks new for Argentina: Oxychilus draparnaudi (Oxychilidae) in Buenos Aires province and Opeas (O.) pumilum (Subulinidae) in Tucumán province. New records expand further the distributions of seven other species in Argentina: Paralaoma servilis (Punctidae) and Deroceras (Agriolimax) reticulatum (Limacidae) throughout the country; in northern tropical climates, O. (O.) pumilum and Bradybaena (B.) similaris (Helicidae); in the warm central area, Theba p. pisana (Helicidae) and O. draparnaudi; in Patagonia, Limax (L.) maximus (Limacidae); and Vertigo ovata (Vertiginidae) and Hawaiia minuscula (Pristilomatidae) in northern and central Argentina. The presence of Deroceras laeve and D. agrestis (Limacidae) could not be confirmed. It is not clear if Pupisoma (Ptychopatula) dioscoricola (Vallonidae) is a native or exotic species in Argentina.


INTRODUCTION
With a variety of climates and habitats, Argentina provides many opportunities for the establishment of exotic species.In Argentina, the oldest exotic mollusks recorded (18th century), belonging to the genus Otala Schumacher, 1817 (Quintana, 1999), were imported for food, although most species were inadvertently introduced with plants.During the rapid process of economic modernization beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, numerous urbanization and landscaping developments affected public and private spaces.Thousands of ornamental plants, shrubs and trees were shipped from Europe usually with soil.The recording of exotic mollusks in Argentina began in the nineteenth century, mainly by Adolfo Doering, who in the 1870s-80s created the first national catalog of terrestrial mollusks.During the twentieth century, there was an increase in observations of this exotic fauna (Miquel, 1988;Miquel & Parent, 1997;Miquel et al., 1995Miquel et al., , 2007b;;Gutiérrez Gregoric et al., 2013).
Currently, over 20 exotic terrestrial species are found in Argentina.This paper presents the unpublished records of Oxychilus draparnaudi (Beck, 1837) and Opeas (Opeas) pumilum (Pfeiffer, 1840) and extends the distribution of seven species, including three micromolluscs, two Helicoidea and two Limacoidea.
Argentina ratified by Law 24,375 the Convention on Biological Diversity.In Article 8, the law states that the parties must prevent the introduction of exotic species and establish regulations that were necessary for the protection of resources (Secretaria de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable de la Nación 2012).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The materials belong to Argentinean scientific collections: Instituto y Fundación Miguel Lillo (IFML, San Miguel de Tucumán), Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" (MACN, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires) and Museo de La Plata (MLP, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, La Plata).Species were identified through conchological and anatomical study.Photographs were taken in the Scanning Electronic Microscope of the MACN.

Oxychilidae
Oxychilus draparnaudi (Beck, 1837) (Figs. 3, 4 A, B) After Pilsbry (1946), some diagnostic features are the transparent, strongly and convex depressed shell; the umbilicus, contained about 6 times in main diameter; the glossy, pale brown above, much paler beneath; 5 ½ moderately convex whorls, slowly increasing to the last, which is very much wider; and the oblique, lunate aperture with a thin lip.
O. draparnaudi is a species described from France, and its natural range includes Western Europe and Mediterranean region.Now, it is found in Russia, North America, north and South Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand (Barker, 1999).This is the first report for Argentina.
O. draparnaudi is a highly synanthropic spe- cies that can be found in gardens, waste lands and disturbed forests.Possessing gregarious habits, it is omnivorous, but with strong predatory tendencies on other mollusks and their eggs (Barker, 1999).It is a greenhouse pest that kills young plants and seedlings (Berg, 1994).In Argentina, it was found living under a willow trunk in the northeast of Buenos Aires province (L.Dalmer, pers.comm.2011) (Virgillito, 2012) In accord with Pilsbry (1946), the shell is very minutely perforate, conic, with a very obtuse apex; the surface is not very glossy and is densely, sharply sculptured with irregular and strong striae, deeply curved, or arcuate; the outer lip is thin and so much retracted above as to appear incised at the suture; the aperture is well rounded below, and the columellar lip is reflexed.This is a species described from Bristol (England) and occurring in Europe, but its native range is tropical America.In Argentina, it is found in Tucumán province, which is the first record of the species in our country.A previous mention of this species in Argentina (Rumi et al., 2010) corresponds to forms of genus Lamellaxis Strebel, 1882 (MLP 9611 and 11309) (Virgillito, 2012).
Dried materials examined: Argentina: IFML 15451.Tucumán, 430 m.Leg.W. Weyrauch, 1967.15 specs.Say, 1822 (Figs. 2, 4 E) This species is a native of North America from Alaska to northern Mexico, and it was described from Philadelphia (Barker, 1999).Today, its distribution is almost worldwide.In Argentina, it was recorded in northern and central regions (Salta and Córdoba provinces) and also observed in Jujuy (Fernández, 1973) It was described from the Canary Islands, although its natural range was probably some Pacific islands.Currently, it is found worldwide.In South America, it has been reported from Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Bolivia (Miquel et al., 2007a).In Argentina, it is found from tropical and temperate regions to the south, in Misiones, Tucumán, Formosa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Chubut and Tierra del Fuego provinces.It was found under a log and among fallen leaves of Eucalyptus sp., among mosses and lichens on rocks, in shady and moist habitats, and in fallen leaves of Nothofagus betuloides (Mirb.)(cherry, "guindo") and Drimys winteri (Forst.)(cinnamon, "canelo").Before being recognized as an exotic species, P. servilis was described several times as new (Miquel et al., 2007a).