A small collection of terrestrial snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from Unguja Island (Zanzibar, Tanzania) revealed a species unknown for 67 years

Dilian Georgiev

Dilian Georgiev https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2885-4895

3 June 2024 · volume 46 · (issue 6) · pp. 165–168 · PDF [full text]

Abstract: The study presents findings from a survey of terrestrial snails conducted on Unguja Island (Zanzibar). The survey, conducted in March 2024, focused on the eastern coast of the island, specifically around Uroa Village and Kiwengwa Cave. A total of 12 species of terrestrial snails were recorded, including Gulella minutissima (Thiele, 1911), previously unknown for over six decades.

Keywords: distribution, habitats, tropical snails

References [11]

Burgess N., Clarke G. 2000 Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa. IUCN, Cambridge, 42 pp.

Georgiev D. 2021 Records of terrestrial and mangrove snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the Michamwi Peninsula, Unguja (Zanzibar) Island (Tanzania). Historia naturalis bulgarica 42: 43–48. https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.42.071

Georgiev D. 2021 On the fauna of Psocoptera of Unguja (Zanzibar) Island (Tanzania, East Africa). Historia naturalis bulgarica 42: 35–42. https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.42.061

Gittenberger E., Van Bruggen A. 2013 Land snails of the islet of Misali. Zoologische Mededelingen 87 (3): 235–273.

Pakenham R. 1984 The Mammals of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands. Printed privately, Harpenden, 81 pp.

Rowson B. 2007 Land molluscs of Zanzibar Island (Unguja), Tanzania with the description of a new species of Gulella (Pulmonata: Streptaxidae). Journal of Conchology 39 (4): 425–466.

Rowson B., Warren B., Ngereza C. 2010 Terrestrial molluscs of Pemba Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania, and its status as an “oceanic” island. ZooKeys 70: 1–39. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.70.762

Siex K. 2011 Protected Area Spatial Planning for Unguja and Pemba Islands, Zanzibar. Final Consultancy Report. Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, 42 pp.

Thiele J. 1911 Mollusken der Deutschen Zentralafrika-Expedition. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der deutschen Zentral-Afrika-Expedition 1907-1908 unter Führung Adolf Friedrichs, Herzog zu Mecklenberg. Band III, Zoologie. Klinkhardt und Biermann, Leipzig, 175–214.

Verdcourt B. 1962 Preliminary Keys for the Identification of the Species of the Genus Gulella Pfr. Occurring in East Africa. Annales Musee Royal de L’Afrique Centrale 8: 1–39.

Verdcourt B. 2006 A revised list of the non-marine Mollusca of East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, excluding Lake Malawi). Maidenhead, 75 pp.