Limax fuliginosus Gould, 1852

Brook, Fred J. & Ablett, Jonathan D., 2019, Type material of land snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) described from New Zealand by taxonomists in Europe and North America between 1830 and 1934, and the history of research on the New Zealand land snail fauna from 1824 to 1917, Zootaxa 4697 (1), pp. 1-117 : 68

Limax fuliginosus Gould, 1852

Pl. 13, fig. C

Gould, 1852. United States Exploring Expedition, 12: 5, fig. 4.

Type material: Formerly in USNM, but apparently lost. The number of specimens in the type series is not known.

Type locality: ‘ Bay of Islands , New Zealand’ ( Gould 1852: 5) .

Previous illustrations of type material: Gould (1856: pl. 1, fig. 4, a [here reproduced in pl. 13, fig. C]).

Remarks: The original description of Limax fuliginosus was based on material collected “among turnips in a garden” in the Bay of Islands in 1840, during a visit by the United States Exploring Expedition ( Gould 1852: 5). As with Milax antipodarum , it was originally thought to be native to New Zealand ( Gould 1852; Hutton 1884b: 205). Musson (1891: 886) implied that it could be adventive, and Hedley & Suter (1893: 665) listed it as an introduced species. Suter (1913b: 1072 —as A. antipoda ) noted that it was related to Limax gagates Draparnaud, 1805 , and it was listed as a junior synonym of, Milax gagates (Draparnaud) by Powell (1979: 450) and Barker (1979: 420, 1982: 178, 1999: 87). Gould’s record of this taxon from the Bay of Islands is the earliest record of an adventive northern hemisphere land snail from New Zealand.

Current Taxonomy: Treated as a subjective junior synonym of Milax gagates ( Draparnaud, 1801) by Powell (1979) and Barker (1979, 1982, 1999), albeit without examination of type material.