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The non-marine molluscs of Dominica are species of land and freshwater molluscs, i.e. land snails, land slugs and one small freshwater clam that are part of the wildlife of Dominica, an island in the Lesser Antilles. In malacology, the non-marine molluscs of an area are traditionally listed separately from the marine molluscs (those molluscs that live in full-salinity saltwater). Dominica is a Caribbean island, part of the Windward Island chain of the Lesser Antilles. Fifty-five species of non-marine molluscs have been found in the wild in Dominica, including sixteen endemic species of land snails, species which occur nowhere else on Earth. Dominica is a mountainous, , volcanic, tropical island. It is undeveloped compared with most other Caribbean islands, and it is known for its wildlife and unspoiled natural landscapes. The rugged terrain includes a great deal of tropical rainforest, numerous rivers, and several officially protected areas, including Morne Trois Pitons National Park and Cabrits National Park. The rich natural landscapes of Dominica provide suitable habitat for a wide range of different species of wildlife, including many rarities, and a relatively large number of species of non-marine molluscs, both native and introduced. Living in the wild in Dominica there are 54 species of gastropods, (11 species of freshwater gastropods including 2 neritids that live in brackish water,〔〔 43 species of land gastropods)〔〔 and 1 species of freshwater bivalve.〔 ==History of surveys of land gastropods== The first records of land gastropods from Dominica were published by the English naturalist Robert John Lechmere Guppy in 1868.〔 During his visit (a vacation which he turned into an active malacological field trip)〔 Guppy collected a total of 20 species〔 from Dominica. Out of these twenty, he described 9 as new species.〔〔 Subsequently, additional records were added by Thomas B. Bland (1869),〔 A. D. Brown (1881),〔 George French Angas (1884), Edgar Albert Smith (1888, 1888)〔Smith E. A. (1888). "On the Mollusca collected by G.A. Ramage at the island of Dominica". ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (6)2: (227 )-234.〕〔Smith E. A. (1888). "On the Mollusca collected by G.A. Ramage at the island of Dominica. Report II." ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (6)2: (419 )-420.〕 and Henry Augustus Pilsbry (1892).〔Pilsbry H. A. (1892). "On a collection of land Mollusca from the Island of Dominica, West Indies". ''Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Science'' 8: (356 )-358.〕 Four surveys of the terrestrial malacofauna were carried out in the 2000s: 2001 (Ramnath), 2003, 2005 (Robinson, Fields & Zimmerman) and 2008 (Hovestadt). These studies were summarized in 2009.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of non-marine molluscs of Dominica」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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