This study provides an update on the non-native succineid (amber snail) species established in the Hawaiian Islands, with a focus on resolving taxonomic ambiguities and expanding the understanding of their distributions and potential impacts. Surveys across the Hawaiian Archipelago, coupled with morphological and genetic data, identified three non-native succineid species currently established in Hawai'i : Succinea costaricana, S. luteola, and S. unicolor. Additionally, a fourth species, Novisuccinea lyrata, intercepted at quarantine facilities, has not yet become established in the islands. Using integrative taxonomy, including DNA sequencing, shell morphology, and comparison with type materials, this research clarifies the identities of these species, correcting prior misidentifications, particularly of S. unicolor, which was previously confused with S. tenella, a species yet to be recorded in Hawai'i. The study also reveals a new invasion of S. luteola and documents the range expansion of S. costaricana within Hawai'i. These findings have significant biosecurity implications, as accurate species identification is crucial for effective quarantine measures. Furthermore, the introduction of these snails to sensitive environments like the Hawaiian Islands presents a risk of unanticipated ecological consequences, such as the spread of zoonotic disease agents. This research highlights the critical role precise taxonomic knowledge plays in preventing economic losses from species misidentifications in international trade. The study further underscores the complexity of managing non-native species invasions, particularly in island ecosystems with limited native species resilience, and for understudied taxa like snails.

Archaeological evidence for local environmental change is obscured by the tendency for humans to remove natural resources from places of procurement and deposit them elsewhere, sometimes at great distance. This is especially problematic for changes in relative sea level, which clearly affected the inhabitability of low-elevation coastal landforms but not necessarily the regional availability of resources of cultural or economic value. Needed are proxies for relative sea level from non-dietary taxa. One genus of terrestrial snails, Truncatella, offers good potential in this respect because of its specific niche at the interface between seawater and land. However, like food resources displaced by people, Truncatella shells are displaced by storms and redistributed landward of the coastline. Distinguishing between autochthonous and allochthonous deposits is essential to inferring relative sea level from the occurrence of this taxon alone. To this end, assemblages of Truncatella shell from stratified sites along the north Gulf Coast of Florida, USA are compared to associated archaeological snails of other taxa and to snail shells from the wrack of proximate foreshores to infer changes in relative sea level over the past four millennia. Variation in the morphology of shorelines and in the accumulation rates of archaeological midden mitigates any direct relationship between terrestrial snail frequencies and sea level, but the results of this study suggest that our approach can be applied to other non-dietary taxa occupying marginally terrestrial niches to refine estimates for sea level derived from the sedimentary records of geological cores.

The Pacificellinae are a group of small, high-spired land snails distributed on islands across the Pacific. Some species are endemic to particular island groups, but others have wide geographic distributions, several of which have been attributed to anthropogenic transport between islands before western contact. We used DNA sequence data (COI, 16S, ITS2, 28S) from recently collected and historical specimens to estimate a phylogeny of the Pacificellinae, with a focus on Hawaiian species. Phylogenetic analyses support recognizing Lamellidea and Pacificella as distinct genera and indicate that the genus group Tornatellinops should be regarded as a synonym of Lamellidea. The number of taxa defined by species delimitation analyses (ASAP, bPTP, mPTP) varies widely, with between 6 and 42 species estimated in the Hawaiian Islands. These candidate species hypotheses were evaluated in an integrative framework, including shell morphology, geography, and a multilocus phylogeny, to revise the taxonomy of Hawaiian pacificellines. Four Lamellidea species and two Pacificella species are recognized from the Hawaiian Islands, including two widespread species introduced to Hawaiʻi from the South Pacific. Lamellidea peponum in Hawaiʻi shows little genetic divergence from Polynesian specimens previously referred to L. oblonga, and the name L. oblonga is now regarded as a junior synonym. Lamellidea polygnampta is recognized here from across the Hawaiian Islands, L. cylindrica from the island of O‘ahu, and the lowland species, L. extincta, from the main Hawaiian Islands and the Northwestern Islands. The only Pacificella specimens found in Hawai‘i in modern surveys are more closely related to specimens of P. variabilis from Polynesia than to historical specimens of P. baldwini, indicating that the only Pacificella species now found in the main Hawaiian Islands appears to be introduced. Pacificellines have declined in abundance in Hawai‘i over the last century and the two species L. extincta and P. baldwini, formerly present across the Hawaiian Islands, are now either critically endangered or extinct.

The non-marine mollusc fauna of the northern part of t1he Narinda karst of north-western Madagascar, mostly from the Anjajavy Peninsula and Analalava District is enumerated based on collections made in the past 20 years. 102 species are recorded (73 terrestrial, 12 freshwater and 17 littoral). Twenty four are described as new species: Omphalotropis lavanensis n. sp., Boucardicus crassus n. sp., Boucardicus malama n. sp., Boucardicus minoratus n. sp., Cyclotopsis pectinata n. sp., Tropidophora narindana n. sp., Tropidophora tenona n. sp., Tropidophora jugia n. sp., Tropidophora neoliratoides n. sp., Tropidophora rovidrovitra n. sp., Gulella foucaultia n. sp., Gulella martiniana n. sp., Gulella anjajavyensis n. sp., Gulella volontany n. sp., Gulella antonibe n. sp., Parvedentulina lavana n. sp., Microcystis zorony n. sp., Microcystis embertoni n. sp., Sitala dickensi n. sp., Ctenophila tangolika n. sp., Kalidos unistriata n. sp., Kalidos quadrangulata n. sp., Kalidos narindana n. sp., and Kalidos mahafatifaty n. sp. A further six are new records for Madagascar. We propose two changes of genera and one new synonym. Madagascar’s dry forest continues to decline in area and much of the forest in the region is fragmentary. Three species were only recorded from old shells and may be locally extinct.

The superfamily Orthalicoidea comprises approximately 2,000 species of terrestrial gastropods, mostly concentrated in the Neotropics but also present in southern Africa and Oceania. We provide a multi-marker molecular phylogeny of this superfamily, reassessing its family- and genus-level classification. We exclude two families from the group, Odontostomidae and Vidaliellidae, transferring them to Rhytidoidea based on their phylogenetic relationships as recovered herein. Two new families are recognized herein as members of Orthalicoidea, Tomogeridae and Cyclodontinidae fam. nov. The family Megaspiridae and the subfamily Prestonellinae are paraphyletic but are retained herein for taxonomic stability. The subfamily Placostylinae is synonymized with Bothriembryontinae. The new genera Alterorhinus gen. nov. and Sanniostracus gen. nov. containing some Brazilian species are described here to better reflect the phylogeny. The fossil record and paleobiogeographic history of the group is explored under the new phylogenetic framework.

The Pacificellinae are a group of small, high-spired land snails distributed on islands across the Pacific. Some species are endemic to particular island groups, but others have wide geographic distributions, several of which have been attributed to anthropogenic transport between islands before western contact. We used DNA sequence data (COI, 16S, ITS2, 28S) from recently collected and historical specimens to estimate a phylogeny of the Pacificellinae, with a focus on Hawaiian species. Phylogenetic analyses support recognizing Lamellidea and Pacificella as distinct genera and indicate that the genus group Tornatellinops should be regarded as a synonym of Lamellidea. The number of taxa defined by species delimitation analyses (ASAP, bPTP, mPTP) varies widely, with between 6 and 42 species estimated in the Hawaiian Islands. These candidate species hypotheses were evaluated in an integrative framework, including shell morphology, geography, and a multilocus phylogeny, to revise the taxonomy of Hawaiian pacificellines. Four Lamellidea species and two Pacificella species are recognized from the Hawaiian Islands, including two widespread species introduced to Hawaiʻi from the South Pacific. Lamellidea peponum in Hawaiʻi shows little genetic divergence from Polynesian specimens previously referred to L. oblonga, and the name L. oblonga is now regarded as a junior synonym. Lamellidea polygnampta is recognized here from across the Hawaiian Islands, L. cylindrica from the island of O‘ahu, and the lowland species, L. extincta, from the main Hawaiian Islands and the Northwestern Islands. The only Pacificella specimens found in Hawai‘i in modern surveys are more closely related to specimens of P. variabilis from Polynesia than to historical specimens of P. baldwini, indicating that the only Pacificella species now found in the main Hawaiian Islands appears to be introduced. Pacificellines have declined in abundance in Hawai‘i over the last century and the two species L. extincta and P. baldwini, formerly present across the Hawaiian Islands, are now either critically endangered or extinct.

New Guinea is a biodiversity hotspot that is not well sampled for many invertebrate groups including terrestrial snails. Surveys across Papua New Guinea, as well as searches of museum collections, uncovered 9 new species of predatory land snails in the genus Torresiropa Solem, 1959: T. auriT. oreas sp. nov., T. paterivolans sp. nov., T. pinsina sp. nov., and T. worsfoldi sp. nov. We redescribe the type species T. spaldingi (Brazier, 1876), move Rhytida bednalli Ponsonby, 1907 to Torresiropa, and elevate T. acutecarinata mussauensis (Rensch, 1937) to species level. Most Torresiropa are uncommon and are found on single islands or mountain ranges. Papua New Guinea faces increasing anthropogenic changes to its tropical forests that are likely to negatively impact ecologically sensitive terrestrial snails. Sampling is necessary to document vulnerable snail species and their geographic ranges before habitat modifications result in the need for conservation actions.

The Pacificellinae are a group of small, high-spired land snails distributed on islands across the Pacific. Some species are endemic to particular island groups, but others have wide geographic distributions, several of which have been attributed to anthropogenic transport between islands before western contact. We used DNA sequence data (COI, 16S, ITS2, 28S) from recently collected and historical specimens to estimate a phylogeny of the Pacificellinae, with a focus on Hawaiian species. Phylogenetic analyses support recognizing Lamellidea and Pacificella as distinct genera and indicate that the genus group Tornatellinops should be regarded as a synonym of Lamellidea. The number of taxa defined by species delimitation analyses (ASAP, bPTP, mPTP) varies widely, with between 6 and 42 species estimated in the Hawaiian Islands. These candidate species hypotheses were evaluated in an integrative framework, including shell morphology, geography, and a multilocus phylogeny, to revise the taxonomy of Hawaiian pacificellines. Four Lamellidea species and two Pacificella species are recognized from the Hawaiian Islands, including two widespread species introduced to Hawaiʻi from the South Pacific. Lamellidea peponum in Hawaiʻi shows little genetic divergence from Polynesian specimens previously referred to L. oblonga, and the name L. oblonga is now regarded as a junior synonym. Lamellidea polygnampta is recognized here from across the Hawaiian Islands, L. cylindrica from the island of O‘ahu, and the lowland species, L. extincta, from the main Hawaiian Islands and the Northwestern Islands. The only Pacificella specimens found in Hawai‘i in modern surveys are more closely related to specimens of P. variabilis from Polynesia than to historical specimens of P. baldwini, indicating that the only Pacificella species now found in the main Hawaiian Islands appears to be introduced. Pacificellines have declined in abundance in Hawai‘i over the last century and the two species L. extincta and P. baldwini, formerly present across the Hawaiian Islands, are now either critically endangered or extinct.

A new species of microsnail in the genus Paravitrea was discov-ered while sampling leaf litter invertebrates in western North Carolina. The new species is smaller and has fewer whorls than most Paravitrea species. It is also unique in having only a single nodular lamella in young juveniles, rather than one to several axial rows of nodular lamellae as in most other Paravitrea spe-cies. Its adult shell is similar only to that of Paravitrea blarina, from which it differs by the absence of nodular lamellae on the shell. To facilitate comparisons between these two species, the reproductive anatomy of P. blarina is presented for the first time, showing significant differences from the new species. The new species appears to be closely associated with the Broad River, which may play a role in its unusual distribution in the Piedmont Plateau.

AbstractThe Hawaiian archipelago was formerly home to one of the most species-rich land snail faunas (> 752 species), with levels of endemism > 99%. Many native Hawaiian land snail species are now extinct, and the remaining fauna is vulnerable. Unfortunately, lack of information on critical habitat requirements for Hawaiian land snails limits the development of effective conservation strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine the plant host preferences of native arboreal land snails in Puʻu Kukui Watershed, West Maui, Hawaiʻi, and compare these patterns to those from similar studies on the islands of Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi. Concordant with studies on other islands, we found that four species from three diverse families of snails in Puʻu Kukui Watershed had preferences for a few species of understorey plants. These were not the most abundant canopy or mid canopy species, indicating that forests without key understorey plants may not support the few remaining lineages of native snails. Preference for Broussaisia arguta among various island endemic snails across all studies indicates that this species is important for restoration to improve snail habitat. As studies examining host plant preferences are often incongruent with studies examining snail feeding, we suggest that we are in the infancy of defining what constitutes critical habitat for most Hawaiian arboreal snails. However, our results indicate that preserving diverse native plant assemblages, particularly understorey plant species, which facilitate key interactions, is critical to the goal of conserving the remaining threatened snail fauna.

Southeast Asian Clausiliidae in the collection of the Florida Museum of Natural History, and particularly those that were obtained during recent biodiversity surveys in Myanmar and Thailand, provide important new data on the mostly endemic species of the family in that region. This paper assesses the museum’s clausiliid material from continental Southeast Asia, gives well defined locality records, highlights and discusses novel distribution data, and introduces Oospira mongmitensis Grego and Szekeres n. sp., O. naga Grego and Szekeres n. sp., O. sardicola Grego and Szekeres n. sp., and Phaedusa bocki thompsoni Grego and Szekeres n. ssp. as new taxa.

Angiostrongylus cantonensis has been found in Florida, USA, from the panhandle in the north to Miami and surrounding areas in the southern parts of the state, in both definitive and intermediate hosts in a limited studies completed in 2015. Additional studies have identified this parasite in a variety of intermediate hosts, both native and non-native gastropod species, with new host species recorded. Many areas in Florida with higher A. cantonensis prevalence were those with a high human population density, which suggests it is a matter of time before human infections occur in Florida. Case reports in the state currently involve non-human primates and include a gibbon and orangutan in Miami. Here, we report the current status of A. cantonensis in the state, as well as the infection in a capuchin monkey and presumptive infection in a red ruffed lemur in Gainesville, Florida.

The diversity of Hawaiian land snails was once extraordinary, both in terms of the number of species and the unparalleled levels of endemism. Habitat loss and the establishment of non-native species that prey on native snails have resulted in catastrophic declines in Hawaii's native land snails in the last century, and many are now critically endangered or extinct. Despite these losses, some species persist, and recent surveys have identified remnant populations of several species previously thought extinct. To effectively manage these remaining taxa and to understand what has been lost, the systematics of the land snail fauna of Hawaii needs revision; this will facilitate accurate identification of threatened species, discovery of undescribed species, and a fuller understanding of native land snail evolution and conservation. The development of type catalogs for all major museum collections holding type material of Hawaiian land snails is a necessary first step in this revisionary process. Here we describe the type material at the Paleontological Research Institute (PRI) in Ithaca, New York. Most of the type collection of Hawaiian land snails at PRI was acquired from Wesley Newcomb through the Cornell Museum. Newcomb described 126 species and varieties of endemic Hawaiian land snails, of which the PRI Hawaiian land snail collection contains type material for 74 nominal species-group taxa belonging to the Achatinellidae and Amastridae. Eighteen of these are recognized as primary type material (i.e., syntypes or lectotypes, there are no holotypes or neotypes).

Recent surveys of Oahu's Waianae Mountains uncovered a small, previously undescribed species of Auriculella that is conchologically similar to the three members of the A. perpusilla group all of which are endemic to the Koolau Mountain Range. However, sequence data demonstrate that the perpusilla group is not monophyletic. Moreover, the new species is not closely related to A. perpusilla or A. perversa, the only extant members of the group, but instead is sister to A. tenella, a species from the high spired A. castanea group. A neotype is designated for A. auricula, the type species of Auriculella; all members of the conchologically similar perpusilla group are anatomically redescribed; and lectotypes designated for A. minuta, A. perversa, and A. tenella. The new species is described and compared to the type of the genus, members of the perpusilla group, and the genetically similar species A. tenella.

Since 1955 snails of the Euglandina rosea species complex and Platydemus manokwari flatworms were widely introduced in attempted biological control of giant African snails (Lissachatina fulica) but have been implicated in the mass extinction of Pacific island snails. We review the histories of the 60 introductions and their impacts on L. fulica and native snails. Since 1993 there have been unofficial releases of Euglandina within island groups. Only three official P. manokwari releases took place, but new populations are being recorded at an increasing rate, probably because of accidental introduction. Claims that these predators controlled L. fulica cannot be substantiated; in some cases pest snail declines coincided with predator arrival but concomitant declines occurred elsewhere in the absence of the predator and the declines in some cases were only temporary. In the Hawaiian Islands, although there had been some earlier declines of native snails, the Euglandina impacts on native snails are clear with rapid decline of many endemic Hawaiian Achatinellinae following predator arrival. In the Society Islands, Partulidae tree snail populations remained stable until Euglandina introduction, when declines were extremely rapid with an exact correspondence between predator arrival and tree snail decline. Platydemus manokwari invasion coincides with native snail declines on some islands, notably the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, and its invasion of Florida has led to mass mortality of Liguus spp. tree snails. We conclude that Euglandina and P. manokwari are not effective biocontrol agents, but do have major negative effects on native snail faunas. These predatory snails and flatworms are generalist predators and as such are not suitable for biological control.

Parelaphostrongylus andersoni, the muscleworm, commonly infects white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and also infects caribou (Rangifer tarandus [R.t.] groenlanicus, R.t. grantii, R.t. tarandus, and R.t. caribou). Heavy infection with P. andersoni leads to weakness in the hindquarters, abnormal gait, and pulmonary lesions. The geographical range and full host spectrum of this parasite are not fully known. This study aims to understand host specificity better, especially in nonnative cervids and bovids. This study involved the collection of 140 fecal samples from native and nonnative cervid and bovid species, and 34 snail specimens. With the use of real-time PCR, we found 4/47 (8.5%) O. virginianus fecal samples were positive for P. andersoni. No previously undocumented species of cervids or bovids were found to be infected. Further research is warranted to understand P. andersoni range, host distribution, and potential impact on host health.

Collecting in wet leaf-litter microhabitats in the Great Craggy Mountains and Black Mountains of western North Carolina uncovered juvenile shells and live adults of the rare snail Vitrea clingmani DaII in Pilsbry, 1900. This newly available material allows the description of the radula, juvenile shell, and reproductive system of this species, providing characters fora phylogenetic analysis, which suggests reassignment of the species from the genus Glyphyalinia (Glyphyalus) to Pilsbryna. This new placement is corroborated by COI sequence data. Surveys near the type locality expand the known range of Pilsbryna clingmani and suggest this species is endemic to spruce-fir and northern hardwood forests at elevations above 1500 m in the Black Mountains and contiguous Great Craggy Mountains of western North Carolina where it is further restricted to wet leaf litter microhabitats, making it one of the most narrowly distributed snail species in eastern North America.