Family CARYODIDAE Conolly, 1915

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Introduction

This family of land snails is endemic to eastern Australia. Representatives are found mainly in wet forest litter from northern Queensland to southern Tasmania. This group of snails, treated by many workers (e.g. Zilch 1959; Burch 1976) as a subfamily of the widespread Asian and South American family Acavidae, is here treated as a separate family after Smith (1984). The family, which includes Australia's largest land snails (over 60 mm shell diameter), consists of a small number of distinct genera and species, each occupying a circumscribed area with little overlap. These groups were so distinct that Iredale (1937) divided them into four families (Caryodidae, Hedleyellidae, Anoglyptidae and Pedinogyridae). Many of the species are very restricted in their distribution and can be considered endangered.

The family is characterized by the mainly medium to large sized, elongate or flattened shells and is confined to the wet forests of eastern Australia. Many species lay large eggs.

General References

Bruggen, A.C. van 1980. Gondwanaland connections in the terrestrial molluscs of Africa and Australia. Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 4: 215-222

Burch, J.B. 1976. Outline of classification of Australian terrestrial molluscs (native and introduced). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 3: 127-156

Dartnall, A.J. & Dartnall, J.A. 1972. Notes on the reproductive anatomy and cytogenetics of some Australian acavacean molluscs. Australian Journal of Zoology 20: 79-81

Iredale, T. 1937. A basic list of the land Mollusca of Australia. Pt II. The Australian Zoologist 9: 1-39 [12 Nov. 1937]

Kershaw, R.C. 1988. A study of the Caryodidae (Pulmonata) Part I. Anoglypta launcestonensis (Reeve, 1853). Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston 93: 1-24

Kershaw, R.C. 1988. A study of the Caryodidae (Pulmonata) Part II: Caryodes dufresnii (Leach, 1815). Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston 94: 1-27

Kershaw, R.C. 1989. A study of the Caryodidae (Pulmonata) Part III: Subspecies of Caryodes dufresnii (Leach, 1815). Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston 97: 1-25

Smith, B.J. 1984. Regional endemism of the south-eastern Australian land mollusc fauna. pp. 178-188 in Solem, A. & Van Bruggen, A.C. (eds). World-Wide Snails. Biogeographical Studies on Non-Marine Mollusca. Leiden : Brill.

Smith, B.J. 1998. Family Caryodidae. 1093 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.

Zilch, A. 1959. Gastropoda. Teil 2. Euthyneura. In, Schindewolf, O.H. (ed.). Handbuch der Paläozoologie. Berlin-Zehlendorf : Bornträger Vol. 6(2)(2) xii 834 pp.

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