Slender Banana Slug
Ariolimax dolichophallus
8.5 cm (range 6 cm–11 cm) record 11 cm
Penis length when relaxed and fully invaginated (dissected); midpoint of the 60–110 mm range in the original species description
Relative champion
This slug was named dolichophallus after its penis, which is 'not infrequently' longer than the slug itself. Sometimes, at the end of mating, it gets chewed off.
Margin note: The name was not subtle.
Sources
- Mead A.R. (1943) Revision of the giant West Coast land slugs of the genus Ariolimax Moerch (Pulmonata: Arionidae). The American Midland Naturalist 30(3):675–717 doi:10.2307/2421211
- Leonard J.L., Westfall J.A., Pearse J.S. (2007) Phally polymorphism and reproductive biology in Ariolimax (Ariolimax) buttoni (Pilsbry and Vanatta, 1896) (Stylommatophora: Arionidae). American Malacological Bulletin 23:121–135 link
- Heath H. (1916) The conjugation of Ariolimax californicus. The Nautilus 30:22–24 link
Drawn from
- Mead 1943, Plate 1, Fig. 4 (p. 714): Line drawing of the basal genital structures of A. dolichophallus showing the whole penis: thick basal portion and long looping whip-like apical portion with knobbed tip; 5 mm scale bar on the plate
- Mead 1943, Plate 3, Fig. 16: Photograph of dissected genitalia of A. dolichophallus; the penis is the long thin filament on the left
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