Cumberland Plain Land Snail Research shows that there are only six invertebrate animals that have been listed as endangered in New South Wales, three insects and three landsnails. Particularly the land snail known as Meriodolum Corneovirens and/or Cumberland Plain landsnail(REF 1). The Cumberland plain region of Western Sydney is the ideal location of M.Corneovirens, which covers approximately over 100 locations. However all of these areas are not occupied since the region is often small and isolated. The population of the species are recognized from a very restricted area of western Sydney between Prospect and Liverpool to the east and the Hawkesbury-Nepean River to the west. It reaches north to the Windsor-Richmond area and south to Picton (REF 2). It is noted that this region has its own distinct soil and vegetation type and as Sydney is expanding westwards, the homes of M.Corneroverns are being destroyed by houses and buildings (REF 3). Therefore a very small remnant disjunction population remains. Meriodolum Corneovirens are similar to the common introduced garden snails (Helix aspera), however their appearance differs. M.corneovirens is relatively larger in shell size having a diameter of 25-30mm. The shell will always be uniform in colour despite the different shades of brown, while that of H.aspera comprises of dark patches on a pale background. The garden snail also has a thick shell compared to the Cumberland land snail which has a flattened, thin and fragile shell. (REF 6). Furthermore, the Cumberland plain land snail are diverse and found in difference habitats in Australia, they can be found under the logs and leaves and clutter of bark, and Clark (2009) established would burrow up to 10 cm in loose soil around grass clumps. This confirms that they have behavioural adaptions to different situations. M.Corneovirens are fungus specialists and active at night compared to the garden snail in which they eat green plants. Capture mark recapture (CMR) data are commonly used to estimate the size of natural populations. However majority of the CMR concentrate on vertebrates and therefore there is very limited literature regarding the capture technique of snails (gastropods). This technique was conducted by (REF- 1st article ) in which they dried the snail shell with paper towel and thereafter marked the snails with five techniques: numbered coloured plastic marks, dots of gouache paint, dots of paint for car body, dots of nail varnish and dots of corrective fluid. The technique will not hurt or kill the snail, however will shorten their life history expectancy as it may be toxic and will be absorbed in their shell. A study by (REF 2nd article) found that the number of death for the marked ones were three times more than the number of deaths for the unmarked. This indicates that the CMR repelled the predators. Fin: Recent findings by Pierre yves & Philippe (200) have confirmed that dye markings and individual markings on snails are effective, reliable and didn t interfere with life-history behaviors of the marked individuals. Study by (REF) confirms that Ecologists have been using fluorescent powders and dyes for more than 65 years to investigate the behavior and movement of birds, reptiles, mammals, fish, mollusks, insects, and other animals. As a model study organism, we used fluorescent-marked brown marmorated stink bugs (BMSB),Halyomorpha halys. http://australianmuseum.net.au/threatened-and-endangered-land-snails#sthash.rGsXthL3.dpuf http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/AppF_Cumberland_land_snail.pdf http://wsca.org.au/ADI%20Website/florfauna/Snail.html http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=10526 http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/CumberlandPlainLandSnailEndSpListing.htm (http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=10526) Clark 2009
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]