---
title: "Black Slug"
description: "Arion ater — Altri animali. Arion ater, the black slug (also known as black arion, European black slug, or large black slug), is a large terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Arionidae, the round back slugs."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/black-slug
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Black Slug

> Arion ater — Altri animali. Arion ater, the black slug (also known as black arion, European black slug, or large black slug), is a large terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Arionidae, the round back slugs.

- Scientific name: *Arion ater*
- Category: `other` (Altri animali)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta), `urban` (Città e giardini)
- iNaturalist observations: 50958
- Wikidata: [Q21113](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21113)
- iNaturalist taxon: [82003](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/82003)

## Names

- en: Black Slug
- de: Schwarze Wegschnecke
- es: Babosa Común
- fr: Loche noire
- nl: Duistere wegslak

## Countries with the most observations

CA (8035), US (7371), GB (1369), PT (919), DE (909), ES (716), AU (582), DK (531), FR (403), NO (258), SE (173), IE (122)

## Summary

Arion ater, the black slug (also known as black arion, European black slug, or large black slug), is a large terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Arionidae, the round back slugs.
Many land slugs lack external shells, having a vestigial shell. Most slugs retain a remnant of their shell, which is usually internalized, unlike other terrestrial mollusks (such as snails) which have external shells. Without such shells, slugs produce mucus—that may also contain toxins—to deter predators. Terrestrial slugs produce two other forms of mucus that facilitate locomotion and prevent death from drying. Such mollusks are…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arion_ater

## Photo

![Black Slug](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/black-slug/medium.jpg)

Photo: Giselle Blythe · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/25741692

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/black-slug?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).