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B74-VanBruggen-bb:Basteria-2010 15/11/2010 20:51 Page 87 Book review A.C. van Bruggen NetherlandsCentreforBiodiversityNaturalis,P.O.Box9517,NL-2300 RALeiden,TheNetherlands;[email protected] Herbert,DavidG.,2010.TheintroducedterrestrialMolluscaofSouth Africa,SANBIBiodiversitySeries15,SouthAfricanNationalBiodiver- sityInstitute,Pretoria([email protected]):1-108,51figs(mostlyin colour),36maps,29.6×21cm.ISBN978-1-919976-56-3.Paperback,price SAR100orUS$25.Alsorefertotheonlinebookshop http://www.sanbi.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=203& Redirected=1. Sometimeagoacolleague(specialistinAfricanlandsnails) showedmeaseriesofphotostowhichIreplied“anewspecies ofTrachycystis,Ipresume”,becauseatthattimeIwasensconced behindthebinocularmicroscope,alsoworkingonAfrican snails.Infact,thephotosdepictedtheEuropeanspeciesZonitoi- 87 desexcavatusandtherebybeautifullydemonstratedthequan- daryofsomeoneworkingonimportedsnailspecies.Thisisalso illustratedbyHerbert’sremarksonp.15 ofthebookunder scrutiny. “Inthisregarditispertinenttonotethatanumberofuni- dentifiedterrestrialgastropodtaxahavebeencollectedindis- turbedortransformedhabitatsinSouthAfrica(materialinthe NatalMuseum).ThesetaxabelongtothefamiliesSuccineidae, SubulinidaeandVertiginidaeandappearnottobereferableto anyoftheindigenousspeciesdescribedtodatenortoanyof withreferencetotherelevanttaxonomicliteratureonabroad thecurrentlyknownalienspecies.Itseemslikelythatwhenstu- scale.” diedinmoredetailthesewillprovetobeofallochthonousori- Herbert’sattractivelyproducedbookdrawsattentiontoa gin,ratherthanbeingundescribedspecies.Anadditionalcaveat somewhatneglectedproblem,i.e.thatofaliengastropodsin thatneedstobeconsideredinconnectionwiththeidentification SouthAfrica.Increasedglobaltradeandtourismhavesupplied ofalienspecies,particularlythosebelongingtogenerawith travelopportunitiesforavarietyoflandsnailsandobviously manycloselysimilarspecies,isthetendencytoassumethat SouthAfricahashadtoacceptitsfairshareofthesealiens.Thri- newlycollectedsamplesmustbelongtooneofthespeciesal- ving‘exotic’landgastropodsmaycauseahostofproblemsfor readyrecordedasanalieninSouthAfrica.Thisofcourseisnot agricultureandkindredtypesofcommercialventuresbut, justified,andhighlightstheimportanceofon-goingvigilance equallyimportant,mayalsodamagelocalbiodiversitybyrepla- andcarefulscrutinyofallsamplesbelongingtosuchgenera cingendemics.TheprobleminSouthAfricanisnotnew–the Basteria74(4-6):87-88 B74-VanBruggen-bb:Basteria-2010 15/11/2010 20:51 Page 88 firstwhitesettlersinthe17thcenturyalreadyimportedplantsin tablishedspecies),Cernuellavirgata,Microxeromagnalowei,Sara- theformofseedlings,cuttings,etc.Thewinetradeisnowof sinulaplebeia(slug),certainSubulinidaeandSuccineidae.Some- greateconomicimportanceforSouthAfrica,butmaywellhave howorothertheintertropicalpestspeciesAchatinafulicahas beenattherootofsomeproblemswithalienfauna. notbecomeestablished,which(pp.27-28)“indicatesthatthere Initiallyalienlandsnailswereonlymildlyproblematic. isanenvironmentalorbiologicalbarrierofsomekindinnatu- WhenIstartedamodestresearchprojectintheearlysixtiesof ralhabitatsthatpreventsthis.”Incidentally,thesouthernlimits lastcenturylittlewasknownandtheproblemscausedseemed oftheoriginalrangeofthisspeciesaresomewheresouthofthe tobeofalimitednature(VanBruggen,1964).Ontheother mouthoftheZambeziRiver,whichimpliesthatitnaturally hand,atthattimetheZoologyDepartmentoftheuniversityin doesoccurnotallthatfarawayfromthebordersofSouth PietermaritzburgalreadyusedCornuaspersumratherthanlocal Africa.Controlmeasureshavebeenappliedhereandtherebut achatinidtaxainapracticalcourseoninvertebrateanatomybe- thereareonlytwocaseswherethishasresultedineradication causeoftheabundantavailabilityoftheformer.DrDaiHerbert (OtalapunctataandRuminadecollatainCapeTown,late1980s hasnowtackledtheintroducedlandgastropodsinabigway andearly1990s). earlyinthenewcenturyandhisresultsare,toputitmildly,dis- Amongthe‘Excludedspecies’therearecasesofmisidentifi- turbing.Itappearsthatthereare34speciesofwhich28havees- cations,mislabelling,orwidelydistributedtaxanaturallyexten- tablishedself-sustainingpopulations,sometimesofa dingintosouthernAfrica. considerablemagnitude.MostaliensoriginatefromEuropeof SouthAfricanspeciesaspestselsewherehardlydoplaya which9areMediterraneanspecies.Themainpestspeciesare role.TheUnitedStatesquarantineauthoritieshaveintercepted CornuaspersumandThebapisana. afewendemicsamongcutflowers,etc.Also,somepredators Allspeciesareillustratedbycolourphotosandthereare havebeenintroducedelsewhereforbiologicalcontrolwithout alsodrawingsofgenitaliaofslugs;inaddition,distributionin anynoticeableimpactatall. 88 SouthAfricaisshownin36maps.Anusualphotographisthat Allinall,thisisacomprehensivetreatiseonanassemblage ofalivingscalariformindividualofCornuaspersumonp.6.The ofpestspeciesofgreatimportanceforagriculture,sylviculture, ‘mucustrails’onthecoversareacleverinnovation,modest,but horticultureandvinicultureinSouthAfrica.Herbert’sbookis highlyappreciatedbythespecialist.Manyspeciesfamiliarin exemplaryforaliensnailstudiesandshouldgeneratenewinte- Europearedescribedandattentionisgiventodoubtfulspecies restelsewhereintheworldinordertokeeptheseproblemsma- suchasinthegenusCochlicopaandinthefamilyArionidae.All nageable–afterall,thereisthenefariousexampleofAchatina speciesaretreatedingreatdetailinkeepingwiththestatusof fulicainSE.Asia,thePacific,andSouthAmerica,whereithas thebookasamanualofaliensnails.Thebookisconcluded goneverywrongindeed. with25pp.ofreferences(manyofwhichareofalocalnature), whichindicateshowmuchinteresttheseproblemsnailshave Reference generatedinSouthAfrica. Under‘Potentialfutureintroductions’anumberoftaxaare Bruggen,A.C.van,1964.Thedistributionofintroducedmolluscspecies featured,i.e.Cochlicellaacuta(C.barbaraistreatedamongthees- insouthernAfrica.–Beaufortia11:161-169. Basteria74(4-6)