Tuesday 21 May
In the News: First crane egg in the western UK in four centuries
Galapagos land snail (Bulimulus nux)
Galapagos land snail fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Galapagos land snail description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Gastropoda |
| Order | Stylommatophora |
| Family | Bulimulidae |
| Genus | Bulimulus (1) |
This Galápagos land snail species is one of many tiny endangered bulimulid snails endemic to the Galápagos Islands, which often go unnoticed due to their small size (the largest species only reaching 25 mm in length) and dull brown colours (2) (3). This species has a dark brownish-black, conical, spiralled shell, streaked with a rusty reddish brown.
More »
Top
Related species
Galapagos land snail biology
Nothing is known of this Galápagos land snail’s biology.
TopGalapagos land snail range
Just four subpopulations are known from the Galápagos Islands of San Cristóbal and Floreana (1), in the highlands (4).
More »
Top
Species with a similar range
Galapagos land snail habitat
Specimens have mainly been found on trunks, often under bark, and in leaf litter (1).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Galapagos land snail status
Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List 2006 (1).
Galapagos land snail threats
Since their colonisation, the Galapagos Islands have experienced a dramatic decline of suitable habitat for land snails, as farming, road and house construction, and eventually tourism, grew (1) (2) (3). Both San Cristóbal and Floreana have been badly affected and each now has more than five bulimulid species categorized as Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as well as several previously recorded species that are now extinct (3). Grazing livestock (goats, pigs) and invasive alien plants have also altered the snail’s habitat (3) and, occasionally, the islands have suffered from uncontrolled fires, destroying habitat and snails alike (2). Additionally, introduced predators such as black rats (Rattus rattus) and little fire ants (Wasmania auropunctata) have had a direct impact on land snail populations by feeding on them and destroying their eggs (2). Established populations of the invasive little fire ant are known to exist on San Cristóbal and Floreana (1).
TopGalapagos land snail conservation
There are currently no conservation measures targeting this species.
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
Authentication
Authenticated (13/02/2007) by Christine Parent, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University.
http://www.sfu.ca/~cparent/index.htm
Glossary
- Bulimulid
- Of the Bulimulidae family.
- Endemic
- A species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
References
- IUCN Red List (October, 2006)
http://www.iucnredlist.org - Coppois, G. (1998) Invertebrate research overview: 2. The endemic land snails. Bulletin De L'institut Royal Des Sciences Naturelles De Belgique, 70. Available at:
http://www.darwinfoundation.org/articles/br15049806.html - Parent, C.E. and Smith, R.P. (2006) Galápagos Bulimulids: Status report on a devastated fauna. Tentacle: Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Mollusc Specialist Group, 14: 25 - 27. Available at:
http://www.hawaii.edu/cowielab/Tentacle/Tentacle%2014%20(Cowie%202005).pdf#search=%22Bulimulus%20reibischi%22 - Parent, C. (2007) Pers. comm.
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Galapagos land snails, Bulimulus nux, on fallen tree
© Christine Parent
Christine Parent
Department of Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby
BC
V5A 1S6
Canada
Tel: +01 (604) 291 5625
Fax: +01 (604) 291 3496
cparent@sfu.ca
http://www.sfu.ca/~cparent/
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.