THE VARIED ROLES OF SNAILS - National Universities Commission

noted to be in the wild and are gathered by the very poor
(especially women and children) from eating, and also for
sale to urban dwellers. The afrotropical region of the world
(housing the sub-Saharan Africa) harbours the largest
number of land snails that are consumed by man and also
the biggest known carnivores among the land snails
(Watelina cafra, Rhytididae). Archachatina marginata is
the largest land snails in the world and is a widely sought
after species due to the size, distinct makings and lack of
availability. They are more difficult to breed than other
African snails.
They are found in the dense forest floors in the forest zones
of West Africa. They are believed to have a 3 year breeding
cycle which is longer than other snails. This fact, coupled
with deforestation and snail picking for consumption has
caused the numbers to dramatically fall over the last 20
years. Unfortunately, they are considered to be the most
prized snail for eating followed by Achatina achatina and
Achatina fulica.
This region (Afrotropical) has also the richest and most
diverse terrestrial malacofauna. Some species of land snails
were already known as early as 1758 as Linnaeus in his
basic work validly described Achatina achatina S.n., Bulla
achatina (an East American species). The knowledge of
land snails of the African continent was first summarized
for South Africa. Latter those of Angola were reported with
those of East Africa by Beurguinat by 1889 and Von
Martens in 1897 for N.E. Africa by Jickeli in 1874. In
Central Africa, specifically in Camerouns the reports of
Aclly in 1896 other sin the 20 th century include Kobelt for
N.E. Africa in 1909; in South West Africa, Connolly in
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