Meghimatium uniforme Laidlaw, 1937
Laidlaw (1937) original descriptions on Meghimatium uniforme – “The specimens average about 20 mm. in length, and are of a uniform gray-brown colour, entirely without markings. They differ from other species in outline and with the extremities tapering less gradually."
“Although all our specimens collected exhibited the same colour when alive, some became whitish in formalin whereas the others retained their dark brownish colour.” (Tiller & Bouchet, 1988)
“The reproductive apparatus appears rather primitive as regards the structure of the terminal part of the male organs. The hermaphrodite gland lies rather behind the middle of the body on the right side, it is recognizable by the black pigment of the connective tissue in which the lobules of the gland are embedded. From it the convoluted hermaphrodite duct runs through the albumen gland, which is divided into a number of wedge-shaped lobes, to join the thick, much folded common duct. Quite near the lower end of the latter the short vas deferens separates off, and without any widening or muscular attachment passes, after a course of about 3 or 4 mm directly into the terminal sac on the upper surface, and towards the median aspect of the latter. The free oviduct is also a short tube, which passes into the terminal sac more to the right and at a lower level than in the case of the vas. As it enters the sac it receives the short duct of the spherical receptaculum seminis. The terminal sac is a pyriform organ, its pointed, anterior end opening to the exterior by the common genital aperture. I have not been able to make out the structure of the interior of the sac. The development of the heart and kidney is intermediate between the condition figured by Hoffmann for pictum and striatum (Hoffmann, 1924, Jena. Zeitschr. Naturwiss., 60). The kidney extends on either side of the heart to a greater extent than in striatum, and overlaps it to some degree, but not so much as in pictum. The radula has a length of about 4 mm, and a width of 1.3 mm. Number of rows of teeth 145 + nascent. Formula 44-1-44. Outer marginals rudimentary.” (Laidlaw, 1937)
“The digestive tract differs from the one of Meghimatium bilineatum (Benson), as described by Tillier (in press), in its shorter intestine and differentiation of the stomachal pouch, which is spheroidal in shape and separated from the stomachal crop and proximal intestine by faint constrictions. In addition to Laidlaw’s description of the genital apparatus, one may notice that there is no talon at the distal end of the hermaphrodite duct. In one specimen, the genital atrium exhibits a slight outgrowth which may represent a remnant of the penis. Internally, the spermathecal duct and upper portion of the atrium exhibit simple ridges, but most of the internal surface of the latter is smooth.” (Tiller & Bouchet, 1988)
“In the central nervous system, the left parietal and visceral ganglia appear to be fused together, whereas the right parietal is distinct from the right pleural ganglion. This arrangement is similar to the one found in the South African Oopelta, and in the European Geomalacus maculosus Allman; whereas in the Asiatic Meghimatium striatum (van Hasselt), the European Arion rufus (L.) and North American Arionids, including Philomycus carolinianus (Bosc), the visceral ganglion tends to be shifted onto the right side and remains istinct from the left parietal ganglion. In the Asiatic Meghimatium bilineatum (Benson), all the ganglia look fused together in the visceral chain (Hoffmann, 1924, Van Mol 1962, Tillier in press).” (Tiller & Bouchet, 1988)
Meghimatium uniforme – “Animal Length – 20 mm.” (Laidlaw, 1937); Meghimatium uniforme – “The largest specimens are 30 mm long in alcohol.” (Tiller & Bouchet, 1988)
Type locality – “Pakka, Kinabalu, 10,000 feet” leg. F. N. Chasen and H. M. Pendleburry /April 1929 (Collinge, 1903)