Placostylus
Placostylidae of the Solomons
01-07-2010 16:19
Nearly a year ago, I
wrote about my visit to André
Delsaerdt, the Belgian expert on land
snails from the Solomon Islands. This post is on
his first book dealing with this topic and
covering the family Placostylidae, also part of
the Orthalicoidea.
After careful study of literature and a vast amount of shells, Delsaerdt concludes that there are four genera present on the Salomon Islands: Aspastus Albers, 1850; Eumecostylus Martens, 1860; Placocharis Pilsbry, 1900 and Santacharis Iredale, 1927. A total of 33 taxa are listed, of which two new ones (Eumecostylus gardneri and E. vicinus backhuysi) and one new name (Placocharis palmarum galvini).
As may been seen by these two figures, Placostylids are beautiful snails and there are two pages full of these figures in the book. For each taxon, the following items are given, full of useful notes: type material, type locality, etymology, material examined, characteristics, discussion and distribution.
The book concludes with a chapter on the origin and dispersal of the Solomon Placostylidae, a georeferenced list of localities and a bibliography.
All together it is a thorough revision of this group on the Solomons. Delsaerdt’s book will be a reference work for many years to come.
Reference:
Delsaerdt, A., 2009 [2010]. Land snails on the Solomon Islands, Vol. 1. Placostylidae: 1-132. L’Informatore Piceno, Ancona.
After careful study of literature and a vast amount of shells, Delsaerdt concludes that there are four genera present on the Salomon Islands: Aspastus Albers, 1850; Eumecostylus Martens, 1860; Placocharis Pilsbry, 1900 and Santacharis Iredale, 1927. A total of 33 taxa are listed, of which two new ones (Eumecostylus gardneri and E. vicinus backhuysi) and one new name (Placocharis palmarum galvini).
As may been seen by these two figures, Placostylids are beautiful snails and there are two pages full of these figures in the book. For each taxon, the following items are given, full of useful notes: type material, type locality, etymology, material examined, characteristics, discussion and distribution.
The book concludes with a chapter on the origin and dispersal of the Solomon Placostylidae, a georeferenced list of localities and a bibliography.
All together it is a thorough revision of this group on the Solomons. Delsaerdt’s book will be a reference work for many years to come.
Reference:
Delsaerdt, A., 2009 [2010]. Land snails on the Solomon Islands, Vol. 1. Placostylidae: 1-132. L’Informatore Piceno, Ancona.
Visiting an expert
27-08-2009 21:09
Yesterday I was ‘en route’ to visit André Delsaerdt
in Aarschot, Belgium. We met some years ago during a
meeting of the Dutch Malacological Society, when he
gave a presentation on Placostylidae from the Solomon
Islands.
André now told me how he, merely by chance, became interested in the Solomon Islands fauna. First he was interested in marine snails only, afterwards he became more and more involved with land snails too. His first trip was in 1987 and his most recent visit to the islands was in 2005. With contacts through missionaries, he has visited almost all the islands at least once. During these 20 years he saw a lot of changes, most very unfortunate for biodiversity. At many places deforestation has drastically altered the landscape, due to activities of Japanese, Malaysian and Korean companies. The profits from harvesting the trees largely went to these companies, some to officials and a tiny bit to village ‘chiefs’. The landscape destroyed and eroded, with secondary forest at best.
Anyway, during these years André has been able to collect a great collection. Some species will probably never be collected again, due to destruction of their habitat.
He showed me his impressive collection with justified proud. We also discussed the first part of his upcoming publication on the land snails of the Solomon Islands. It will be a work in several parts, hopefully the first part will be finished this year.
It was a pleasure to meet such an ardent collector, who knows the story behind the shells and knows how to kindle his audience with enthusiasm.
Many thanks again André!
André now told me how he, merely by chance, became interested in the Solomon Islands fauna. First he was interested in marine snails only, afterwards he became more and more involved with land snails too. His first trip was in 1987 and his most recent visit to the islands was in 2005. With contacts through missionaries, he has visited almost all the islands at least once. During these 20 years he saw a lot of changes, most very unfortunate for biodiversity. At many places deforestation has drastically altered the landscape, due to activities of Japanese, Malaysian and Korean companies. The profits from harvesting the trees largely went to these companies, some to officials and a tiny bit to village ‘chiefs’. The landscape destroyed and eroded, with secondary forest at best.
Anyway, during these years André has been able to collect a great collection. Some species will probably never be collected again, due to destruction of their habitat.
He showed me his impressive collection with justified proud. We also discussed the first part of his upcoming publication on the land snails of the Solomon Islands. It will be a work in several parts, hopefully the first part will be finished this year.
It was a pleasure to meet such an ardent collector, who knows the story behind the shells and knows how to kindle his audience with enthusiasm.
Many thanks again André!
Photo of the day (23): Placostylus
04-11-2008 16:34
It is actually not a Neotropical land snail, but
until now is considered to belong to the same
superfamily Orthalicoidea sensu lato. Although
the
confusion
still not has been solved adequately, I do follow the
opinion of Eike Neubert and consider the
Placostylidae as a separate family but related to the
Neotropical orthalicids.
While several of these giants are endangered and some might be extinct, I will highlight species of which I have pictures of live animals. The first one is Placostylus bivaricosus (Gaskoin, 1855) from Lord Howe Island off the eastern coast of Australia.
These snails are ground dwellers, living in the leaf litter of the forest. They are vulnerable to disturbance and are predated, especially the juveniles, by rats and birds.
This species can reach shell heights of up to 70 mm and is endemic to the island. Although is was “abundant” around 1900 (according to Pilsbry, Man. Conch.), it is now considered nearly extinct.
While several of these giants are endangered and some might be extinct, I will highlight species of which I have pictures of live animals. The first one is Placostylus bivaricosus (Gaskoin, 1855) from Lord Howe Island off the eastern coast of Australia.
These snails are ground dwellers, living in the leaf litter of the forest. They are vulnerable to disturbance and are predated, especially the juveniles, by rats and birds.
This species can reach shell heights of up to 70 mm and is endemic to the island. Although is was “abundant” around 1900 (according to Pilsbry, Man. Conch.), it is now considered nearly extinct.