Vol 3 Land Resource Inventory Report - Department of Environment ...

1987, Paine et al. 1994) and is commonly reported as associated with less ―risky‖ invasive
snail species such as the ―leatherleaf‖ slug Laevicaulis alte (Férussac, 1822).
However, recent discovery by the first author of a living Bradybaena similaris (Rang, 1831)
in salad sold at a popular BBQ take-away stand in Suva City (Figure 2) highlights the reality
of the potential for future health problems, particularly when many families, communities and
tourism facilities are being actively encouraged to grow their own salad vegetables. As
recently highlighted by senior Koronivia Research Station staff (pers. comm.), there is a
strong need to investigate the life history characteristics and parasite infection levels of all
introduced land snail species in Fiji.
Fiji‘s 167 endemic land snail species are very diverse, spanning 19 families (Table 1). Two
groups in particular stand out as achievable species-level conservation priorities. These are:
(a) Fiji‘s 12 endemic species of the taxon Placostylus, eight of which are found on only one
island each in the Fiji group (see Figure 3 for an idea of what members of this genus look
like); and (b) members of the taxon Trochomorpha which according to Barker (2005) has at
least 18 species endemic to Fiji (see Figure 4 for an example of this genus).
Besides the above groups, two additional groups are highlighted in the literature as extinction
prone on islands because of their vulnerability to introduced predators – these are the
microsnails of the family Endodontidae and members of the family Rhytididae. The endemic
members of the supralittoral snails (families Ellobiidae and Truncatellidae) should also be
given some attention as they could well be directly impacted by the affects of climate change.
In addition the families Diplommatinidae and Assimineidae, with 15 and 12 as yet
undescribed species respectively, should also be taxonomically revised for biodiversity
assessment purposes. Fiji has a large number of native (endemic and non-endemic) land snail
species that require detailed conservation assessment.
Non-endemic natives are also important because Fiji could be significant for conservation if
these species become threatened or locally extinct elsewhere in their range. Introduced
species are widening their distribution within Fiji and creating a homogenisation of the Fijian
land snail fauna just like that already recorded across the Pacific Islands by Solem (1964) and
Cowie (2001).
There is a need for, scientific human resource capacity building, specialised training about
land snails and general awareness raising of the presence and significance of snails in the
environment, at a local level. Support for at least one postgraduate student scholarship,
funding for a two-day workshop on introduced snails every two years and an increase in
media coverage would substantially address these capacity, training and awareness issues.
For introduced, native and endemic fauna there is an immediate need for collation of existing
information into a form that can be made readily available for utilisation by resource
managers and other community stakeholders. Funding is required for the preparation of
photographic images in the Fiji land snail catalogue currently in progress and also for
obtaining expert curation of material held in Fiji, as well as repatriation of at least some
Fijian material held in overseas institutions.
The consequences of not collating and utilising existing information includes unrecognised
risks to, unique biodiversity, human and livestock health, agricultural crop production and in
turn will have potential economic implications for sustainable livelihoods and trade.
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