The tropical leatherleaf, scientific name Laevicaulis alte, is a species of tropical slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Veronicellidae.
Laevicaulis alte is a round, dark-coloured slug without a shell, 7 or 8 cm long. Its skin is slightly tuberculated. The central keel is beige in colour.
This slug has a unique, very narrow foot; juvenile specimens have a foot 1 mm wide and adult specimens have a foot that is only 4 or 5...
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The tropical leatherleaf, scientific name Laevicaulis alte, is a species of tropical slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Veronicellidae.
Laevicaulis alte is a round, dark-coloured slug without a shell, 7 or 8 cm long. Its skin is slightly tuberculated. The central keel is beige in colour.
This slug has a unique, very narrow foot; juvenile specimens have a foot 1 mm wide and adult specimens have a foot that is only 4 or 5 mm wide.
The tentacles are small, 2 or 3 mm long, and they are only rarely extended beyond the edge of the mantle.
This slug is an intermediate host for Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the rat lungworm, a round worm, the most common cause of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis.
This slug is eaten by the frog Rana tigrina.
This species is probably indigenous in Africa (western Africa and eastern Africa). It has been introduced and become an invasive species in the following areas:
This species lives in dry areas, mostly at lower altitudes.
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