The Biogeography of Land Snails in the Islands of the Gulf of Guinea

Data on land snail diversity in the Gulf of Guinea islands is presented and the biogeography of the Gulf of Guinea fauna is discussed with reference to island snail faunas in the other areas of the world. Although the land snail faunas of the four islands clearly have west and central African affinities, speciation events following rare colonizations have led to high rates of endemism at the species and generic levels. The influence of island size, altitude, isolation and other factors on the development of the land snail faunas is discussed. The effect of land use changes on the land snail fauna over the last 150 years is evaluated. Current threats include recent changes in agricultural practice leading to the destruction of snail habitats in both forest and plantation areas. The potential threat posed by introduced species is also discussed. The Gulf of Guinea snail faunas appear to be in relatively good health in comparison to many other island snail faunas. However, the uniqueness of the faunas makes it imperative that further ecological and taxonomic research is undertaken both to understand the processes by which they developed and to evaluate the current status of many species in terms of distribution and threats.