Ben Rowson

The mountains of northern Kenya (Ndoto, Nyiro, Kulal and Marsabit) are separated by semi‐arid plains uninhabitable for most terrestrial molluscs (snails and slugs). Nevertheless, each “sky island” supports a little‐known forest mollusc fauna. The diversity and endemism of these faunas are addressed here based on surveys and the limited records available in the literature. In total 75 forest mollusc species and subspecies were found, including six previously undescribed Streptaxidae and many first records. Most previously recorded taxa were refound. The richness of faunas is broadly comparable to that of other Kenyan forests surveyed using similar methods (Ndoto 41 taxa, Nyiro 40, Kulal 33, Marsabit 34). A large proportion of the forest taxa (24 taxa, 29%) are endemic to Kenya north of the Mathews Range. More than half of these (14 taxa, 17% of the total) are known only from a single mountain range. At Nyiro, where different forest types were compared, fewer endemic species were found in Juniper forest than in other forest types. Moving northwards along the Ndoto‐Nyiro‐Kulal chain, diversity declines while endemism increases, perhaps reflecting increasing isolation from the southern forests, but the trends are not significant when Marsabit is included. Across the four ranges, neither diversity nor endemism is clearly linked to the isolation, maximum elevation, forest cover or geological origin of each range (Kulal and Marsabit are volcanoes, while Nyiro and Ndoto are uplifted basement rock). Instead, the unique circumstances of each range create a distinctive set of isolated faunas.

The Western European Hedgehog (Erinaceous europaeus) is a nocturnal animal that is in decline in much of Europe, but the monitoring of this species is subjective, prone to error, and an inadequate basis for estimating population trends. Here, we report the use of Crenosoma striatum, a parasitic nematode specific to hedgehogs as definitive hosts, to detect hedgehog presence in the natural environment. This is achieved through collecting and sampling the parasites within their intermediate hosts, gastropoda, a group much simpler to locate and sample in both urban and rural habitats. C. striatum and Crenosoma vulpis were collected post-mortem from the lungs of hedgehogs and foxes, respectively. Slugs were collected in two sessions, during spring and autumn, from Skomer Island (n = 21), which is known to be free of hedgehogs (and foxes); and Pennard, Swansea (n = 42), known to have a healthy hedgehog population. The second internal transcribed spacer of parasite ribosomal DNA was used to develop a highly specific, novel, PCR based multiplex assay. Crenosoma striatum was found only at the site known to be inhabited by hedgehogs, at an average prevalence in gastropods of 10% in spring and autumn. The molecular test was highly specific: One mollusc was positive for both C. striatum and C. vulpis, and differentiation between the two nematode species was clear. This study demonstrates proof of principle for using detection of specific parasite DNA in easily sampled intermediate hosts to confirm the presence of an elusive nocturnal definitive host species. The approach has great potential as an adaptable, objective tool to supplement and support existing ecological survey methods.

New and little-known terrestrial slugs are dealt with based on extensive collections made in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda) 1993–2007. This account deals primarily with larger species from forests in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. In Veronicellidae, Pseudoveronicella Germain, 1908 is extended to Tanzania by P. (Hoffmannia) zootoca tanzaniensis subsp. n. in the Udzungwa Mts. In Urocyclidae, Dendrolimax parensis sp. n. is described from the Pare Mts. and Leptichnoides avisexcrementis sp. n. is described from the Uluguru Mts. In Urocyclinae, Tanzalimax tattersfieldi gen. & sp. n. is described from the Usambara Mts., Tanzalimax seddonae gen. & sp. n. from the Uluguru Mts., and Udzungwalimax suminis gen. & sp. n. from the Udzungwa Mts. In addition, the ill-defined genus Atrichotoxon Simroth, 1910 is discussed and the little-known Dendrolimax leprosus Pollonera, 1906 is reported from Uganda. In Agriolimacidae, a species of Deroceras Rafinesque, 1820 is reported for the first time from southern Tanzania. The taxonomic attribution and significance of each discovery is discussed.

Angiostrongylus vasorum is a highly pathogenic metastrongylid nematode affecting dogs, which uses gastropod molluscs as intermediate hosts. The geographical distribution of the parasite appears to be heterogeneous or patchy and understanding of the factors underlying this heterogeneity is limited. In this study, we compared the species of gastropod present and the prevalence of A. vasorum along a rural–urban gradient in two cities in the south-west United Kingdom. The study was conducted in Swansea in south Wales (a known endemic hotspot for A. vasorum) and Bristol in south-west England (where reported cases are rare). In each location, slugs were sampled from nine sites across three broad habitat types (urban, suburban and rural). A total of 180 slugs were collected in Swansea in autumn 2012 and 338 in Bristol in summer 2014. A 10 mg sample of foot tissue was tested for the presence of A. vasorum by amplification of the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) using a previously validated real-time PCR assay. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of A. vasorum in slugs between cities: 29.4 % in Swansea and 0.3 % in Bristol. In Swansea, prevalence was higher in suburban than in rural and urban areas. Comparing the sampled slug fauna, Arion rufus was found in greater numbers in Swansea than Bristol, and was commonly infected (prevalence 41 %). This, alongside the timing of slug collections in summer rather than autumn, could explain low infection prevalence in the Bristol sample. In the absence of Ar. rufus as a preferred host for A. vasorum, Ar. flagellus and Limacus maculatus appear to act as versatile hosts that are present in suburban and urban areas in Swansea (prevalence in Ar. flagellus 33 %; in L. maculatus 44 %) and in Bristol (prevalence in Ar. flagellus 0.9 %). These slug species might provide A. vasorum with an alternative vehicle to reach the final host, when the main host Ar. rufus is scarce or absent. We conclude that the composition of the slug fauna varies spatially, and that this could help explain patchiness in the prevalence of A. vasorum. A suburban peak was found in the prevalence of infection in intermediate hosts, perhaps explained by a higher density of competent intermediate and/or definitive hosts.

This paper describes the reproductive anatomy and the radula morphology of a Taiwanese species of Elma H. Adams, 1886, providing the first information on the anatomy of the genus. The species is provisionally identified as the type species of Elma, E. cf. swinhoei (H. Adams, 1866). Based on this and contrary to previous systematics, we suggest that Elma belongs to the subfamily Streptaxinae or Gibbinae, based on the presence of a well-developed penial sheath and the vas deferens which forms a loop under the penial sheath. Elma is the first high-spired, Southeast-Asian genus to be thus classified. We discuss possible relationships with other Streptaxoidea including the Elma-like genus Pseudelma Kobelt, 1904 and the highspired “Ennea” aliena Bavay et Dautzenberg, 1912.

The slugs of Britain and Ireland form a well-studied fauna of economic importance. They include many widespread European species that are introduced elsewhere (at least half of the 36 currently recorded British species are established in North America, for example). To test the contention that the British and Irish fauna consists of 36 species, and to verify the identity of each, a species delimitation study was conducted based on a geographically wide survey. Comparisons between mitochondrial DNA (COI, 16S), nuclear DNA (ITS-1) and morphology were investigated with reference to interspecific hybridisation. Species delimitation of the fauna produced a primary species hypothesis of 47 putative species. This was refined to a secondary species hypothesis of 44 species by integration with morphological and other data. Thirty six of these correspond to the known fauna (two species in Arion subgenus Carinarion were scarcely distinct and Arion (Mesarion) subfuscus consisted of two near-cryptic species). However, by the same criteria a further eight previously undetected species (22% of the fauna) are established in Britain and/or Ireland. Although overlooked, none are strictly morphologically cryptic, and some appear previously undescribed. Most of the additional species are probably accidentally introduced, and several are already widespread in Britain and Ireland (and thus perhaps elsewhere). At least three may be plant pests. Some evidence was found for interspecific hybridisation among the large Arion species (although not involving A. flagellus) and more unexpectedly in species pairs in Deroceras (Agriolimacidae) and Limacus (Limacidae). In the latter groups, introgression appears to have occurred in one direction only, with recently-invading lineages becoming common at the expense of long-established or native ones. The results show how even a well-studied, macroscopic fauna can be vulnerable to cryptic and undetected invasions and changes.

Gulella menkeana (Pfeiffer, 1853) is the type species of the highly diverse genus Gulella Pfeiffer, 1856 and study of its morphology and DNA is critical to our ability to define the genus sensu stricto in relation to research on the systematics of this complex genus. However, we have established that current use of the name is inconsistent with both the original description and first figure of the species. The name-bearing type is lost, and purported paratypes in the Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, on which Connolly's widely-followed redescription was based, are not authentic. They have no type status and are instead specimens of Gulella albersi (Pfeiffer, 1855). Recently collected specimens conforming to Pfeiffer's description and figure of G. menkeana have been identified and a neotype is designated. This material also corresponds with the current broad interpretation of G. adamsiana (Pfeiffer, 1859), which, with its several established synonyms, we include in the synony...

Rowson, B., Tattersfield, P. & Symondson, W. O. C. (2010). Phylogeny and biogeography of tropical carnivorous land‐snails (Pulmonata: Streptaxoidea) with particular reference to East Africa and the Indian Ocean. —Zoologica Scripta,40, 85–98.A phylogeny is presented for the speciose, near pan‐tropical, carnivorous achatinoid land‐snail superfamily Streptaxoidea inferred from DNA sequences (two nuclear and two mitochondrial regions) from 114 taxa from Africa, the Indian Ocean, Asia, South America and Europe. In all analyses, Streptaxidae are monophyletic, while the (two to six) previously recognised subfamilies are polyphyletic, as are several genus‐level taxa including the most speciose genusGulella, necessitating major taxonomic review. The Asian Diapheridae are sister to Streptaxidae, which forms several well‐supported clades originating in a persistent basal polytomy. Divergence dating estimates, historical biogeography, and the fossil context suggest a Cretaceous origin of these families, but suggest Gondwanan vicariance predated most radiation. The basal polytomy dates to the Paleogene and may correspond to a rapid radiation in Africa. There is evidence for multiple Cenozoic dispersals followed by radiation, including at least two from Africa to South America, at least two from Africa to Asia and at least two from Africa to Madagascar, indicating Cenozoic turnover in tropical snail faunas. The endemic Seychelles and Mascarene streptaxid faunas each are composites of early Cenozoic lineages and more recent dispersals from Africa, with no direct evidence for an Asian origin as currently proposed. Peak streptaxid diversity in East Africa is explained by Neogene speciation among a large number of coexisting ancient lineages, a phenomenon most pronounced in the Eastern Arc‐Coastal Forests centre of endemism. This includes Miocene diversification inGulella, a primarily East and South‐East African group which remains strikingly diverse even after unrelated ‘Gulella’species are reclassified.