Family CAMAENIDAE Pilsbry, 1895
Introduction
This is one of the major families of land snails of the world and it has a wide diversity of form and of habitat preference. The main centre of distribution is Asia, but species occur throughout the Indo-Pacific area. It is the most widespread and diverse family in Australia, where representatives are found in deserts through to tropical rainforests. The number of species diminishes from north to south in Australia, with no species known to occur in far southwestern Australia or in Tasmania. Recent major revisions of the northwestern and central Australian fauna (Solem 1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1988) have demonstrated the rich diversity of the fauna and the extent of our previous ignorance of that fauna. Smith (1992) lists over 300 camaenid species, many of which have been revised in more recent monographs from southern Australia (Solem 1992) and central Australia (Solem 1993).
The family is characterized by the mainly medium to large sized, solid, helicoid shells and the absence of a dart apparatus in the reproductive system.
General References
Bishop, M.J. 1978. Anatomical notes on the Australian camaenid land snail Sphaerospira fraseri (Griffith & Pidgeon). Journal of Molluscan Studies 44: 200-208
Bishop, M.J. 1978. A revision of the genus Thersites Pfeiffer (Pulmonata : Camaenidae). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 4: 9-21
Clench, W.J. & Turner, R.D. 1966. Monograph of the genus Rhynchotrochus (Papuininae : Camaenidae). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 1(9): 59-95
Gibson, L.A. & Köhler, F. 2012. Determinants of species richness and similarity of species composition of land snail communities on Kimberley islands. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 81: 41-66
Johnson, M.S, Stankowski, S., Whisson, C.S., Teale, R.J. & Hamilton, Z.R. 2013. Camaenid land snails on Barrow Island: distributions, molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic revision. pp. 159-171 in Gunawardene, N.R., Majer, J.D., Taylor, C.K. & Harvey, M.S. (eds). The Terrestrial Invertebrate Fauna of Barrow Island, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 83: 406 pp. + i-vii
Köhler, F. & Criscione, F. 2013. Plio-Pleistocene out-of-Australia dispersal in a camaenid land snail!. Journal of Biogeography 40: 1971–1982
Köhler, F. & Criscione, F. 2015. A molecular phylogeny of camaenid land snails from north-western Australia unraveils widespread homoplasy in morphological characters (Gastropoda, Helicoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 83: 44–55
Smith, B.J. 1992. Non-Marine Mollusca. In, Houston, W.W.K. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Non-marine Mollusca. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 8 xii 408 pp.
Solem, A. 1979. Camaenid land snails from western and central Australia (Mollusca : Pulmonata : Camaenidae) I. Taxa with trans-Australian distribution. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 10: 5-142
Solem, A. 1981. Camaenid land snails from Western and central Australia. II. Taxa from the Kimberley, Amplirhagada Iredale, 1933. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 11: 147-320
Solem, A. 1981. Camaenid land snails from Western and Central Australia (Mollusca : Pulmonata : Camaenidae). III. Taxa from the Ningbing Ranges and nearby areas. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 11: 321-425
Solem, A. 1984. Camaenid land snails from Western and Central Australia (Mollusca : Pulmonata : Camaenidae). IV. Taxa from the Kimberley, Westraltrachia Iredale, 1933 and related genera. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 17: 427-705
Solem, A. 1985. Camaenid land snails from Western and central Australia (Mollusca : Pulmonata : Camaenidae). V. Remaining Kimberley genera and addenda to the Kimberley. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 20: 707-981
Solem, A. 1988. Maximum in the minimum: biogeography of the land snails from the Ningbing Ranges and Jeremiah Hills, northeast Kimberley, Western Australia. Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 9: 59-113
Solem, A. 1988. New camaenid land snails from the northeast Kimberley, Western Australia. Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 9: 27-58
Solem, A. 1993. Camaenid land snails from Western and central Australia (Mollusca: Pulmonata: Camaenidae). VI. Taxa from the Red Centre. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 43: 983-1459
Solem, A. 1997. Camaenid land snails from Western and central Australia (Mollusc: Pulmonata: Camaenidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 50: 1461-1906
Solem, A. 1998. Family Camaenidae. pp. 1112-1113 in Beesley, P.L., Ross, G.J.B. & Wells, A. (eds). Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Fauna of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 5(Part B) pp. vi–viii, 565–1234.
Solem, A. & Christensen, C. 1984. Camaenid land snail reproductive cycle and growth patterns in semi-arid areas of north-western Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 32: 471-491
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26-Nov-2015 | CAMAENIDAE | 25-Nov-2015 | REVIEWED | Lyn Randall |
| 08-Apr-2015 | CAMAENIDAE | 09-Apr-2015 | MODIFIED | |
| 02-Jun-2014 | CAMAENIDAE | 02-Jan-2015 | MODIFIED | ABRS |
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |