Talk:Spanish slug

A note
Please notice that the proper name of the Spanish slug is Arion vulgaris rather than Arion lusitanicus as previously thought. The latter is a case off miss-identification. See article for details. Petter Bøckman (talk) 08:44, 23 July 2009 (UTC)
 * But if it's wrong, why even include it?--NYMFan69-86 (talk) 04:17, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
 * It's included, as the miss-identification was recently discovered, and 95% of sources on the critter will still say Arion lusitanicus.Petter Bøckman (talk) 08:04, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Oh, so it's a common misconception? I gotcha.--76.0.137.226 (talk) 18:47, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

vulgaris vs lusitanicus is not quite so clear cut
Unfortunately there are problems also in using the specific name vulgaris for the pest species, since it is far from clear to which species this name was originally applied. In the absence of resolution, some scientists still prefer to refer to the invasive pest species as Arion lusitanicus auct. non Mabille (meaning as used by various authors but not by Mabille, who coined the name lusitanicus to apply to the Portuguese endemic). This is awkward, but not ambiguous, and not wrong. Jmchutchinson (talk) 07:38, 30 November 2014 (UTC)


 * So how do readers tell then whether the author by using Lusitanicus meant Vulgaris or Lusitanicus? Or even both? 31.30.167.27 (talk) 20:30, 30 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Since my comment in 2014, usage in scientific publications has shifted decisively to using A. vulgaris for the invasive pest species, although an official decision by the ICZN has | still to be made. In older literature, the name A. lusitanicus will also have been used to refer to that species. The true A. lusitanicus is restricted to the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, and the only papers that deliberately refer to it will be clear that they are not referring to the invasive pest because the authors will have been aware of the scope for confusion. JMCHutchinson (talk) 20:51, 30 June 2024 (UTC)