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Key words: Mollusca, Gastropoda, taxonomy, distribution, Dominica.
An overview of the land-snail fauna of the Lesser Antillean island of Dominica is given, based on data from literature and four recent surveys. There are 42 taxa listed, of which the following species are recorded for the first time from the island: Allopeas gracile (Hutton, 1834), A. micra (d'Orbigny, 1835), Beckianum beckianum (L. Pfeiff er, 1846), Bulimulus diaphanus fraterculus (Potiez & Michaud, 1835), Deroceras laeve (Müller, 1774), Sarasinula marginata (Semper, 1885), Streptostele musaecola (Morelet, 1860) and Veronicella sloanii (Cuvier, 1817). The enigmatic Bulimulus stenogyroides Guppy, 1868 is now placed in the genus Naesiotus Albers, 1850. Helicina epistilia Guppy, 1868 is now considered a synonym of H. platychila (Megerle von Mühlfeld, 1824); H. goldfussi Boettger, 1887 and H. rhodostoma inermis A.J. Wagner, 1910 are now put into the synonymy of H. rhodostoma Gray, 1824. Amphicyclotulus mineri Bartsch, 1942 is now considered a synonym of A. amethystinus (Guppy, 1868). Cycloblandia Bartsch, 1942 is treated as a junior subjective synonym of Amphicyclotulus Kobelt, 1912. Nine species, previously thought to occur on Dominica, are now removed from the faunal list of the island, due to inaccuracies of provenance of specimens or misidentifications. Finally, remarks are given on the distribution of species collected during the surveys.
Introduction
"I took advantage of a vacation to visit and explore the island" wrote Guppy in 1868 aft er his visit to Dominica. He casually referred to his ascending Morne Diablotin, probably the first recorded ascent of this highest mountain, where even today hardly any path exists. Guppy (1868) described nine new species from the island, collected during what must have been a rather active malacological vacation.
The island of Dominica is a "superb example of an elaborately dissected, composite volcanic island" (Davis, 1926). It lies on the inner arc of the Lesser Antilles (fig. 1A) and its surface is 752 km2. The island (fig. 1B) may be divided into three regions, based on the disposition of the main peaks. In the north the rather low Morne au Diable (795 m) rises steep and connects via low ridges with the centrally located Morne Diablotin (1447 m). Farther south, a series of ridges encloses a central plateau before rising again to the southern group. Of...