Anadenulus cockerelli (Hemphill, 1890)

American keeled slug

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Anadenus cockerelli Hemphill, 1890

Conservation Status

Last record: 26 October 1945 (Pilsbry, 1948)

Rediscovered on: 19 January 2013 (Richart et al., 2019)

Known only from the type collection from 1890 until Gregg (1944) reported several localities in 1942. It was then recorded on 26 October 1945 (Pilsbry, 1948), before disappearing again. At least one unsuccessful search took place in 2010 (Pearce & Richart, 2010). It was serendipitously recorded alive again on 19 January 2013 (Richart et al., 2019).

Distribution & Habitat

southern California (Kern, Los Angeles, Orange & San Diego counties), USA

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Media

References

Original scientific description:

Hemphill, H. (1890). An American Anadenus. Nautilus 4: 2-3.

Other references:

Cockerell, T. D. A. (1936). Recollections of a naturalist III, snails and slugs. Bios. 7: 205-211.

Gregg, W. O. (1944). Notes on land slugs of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California. The Nautilus 57(4): 109-115.

MolluscaBase eds. (2026). MolluscaBase. Anadenulus cockerelli (Hemphill, 1890). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1352052 on 2026-02-28

NatureServe. (2026). Anadenulus cockerelli: American Keeledslug. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available at: https://explorer.natureserve.org/ [Accessed 28 February 2026]

Pearce, T. A. and Richart, C. H. (2010). American Malacological Society terrestrial field trip report, 26 June and 1 July 2010: In search of Anadenulus cockerelli. American Malacological Society Newsletter 42(2):9-11.

Pilsbry, H. A. (1948). Land Mollusca of North America (north of Mexico). Monograph of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2(2): 521-1113.

Richart, Casey H., Chichester, Lyle F., Boyer, Brendan and Pearce, Timothy A. (2019). Rediscovery of the southern California endemic American Keeled Slug Anadenulus cockerelli (Hemphill, 1890) after a 68-year hiatus. Journal of Natural History 53(25-26): 1515-1531. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2018.1447700

Roth, B. and Sadeghian, P. S. (2003). Checklist of the land snails and slugs of California. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Contributions in Science 3: 1-81.

Roth, B. and Sadeghian, P. S. (2006). Checklist of the land snails and slugs of California. 2nd ed. Santa Barbara (CA): Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Contributions in Science Number 3: 1-80.

Turgeon, D. D., Quinn, J. F., Jr., Bogan, A. E., Coan, E. V., Hochberg, F. G., Lyons, W. G., Mikkelsen, P. M., Neves, R. J., Roper, C. F. E., Rosenberg, G., Roth, B., Scheltema, A., Thompson, F. G., Vecchione, M. and Williams, J. D. (1998). Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland: 526 pp.

Waste, R. J. (1940). The land slugs of California [master’s thesis]. Berkeley (CA): University of California.

https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/22973/anadenulus-cockerelli-american-keeled-slug

<< Back to the Arionoidei database