Dietary preferences of two species of Meridolum (Camaenidae : Eupulmonata : Mollusca) in southeastern Australia

Abstract

Non-marine molluscs have extinction rates that rival the major vertebrate groups. Australia has about 800 described land snails, mostly endemic, yet virtually nothing is known of their biology, severely limiting effective conservation planning. In this study, a simple experiment was conducted to determine the feeding preferences of two native New South Wales species of camaenid snails, both with restricted distributions. Feeding experiments were conducted offering Meridolum gulosum (a rainforest species) and Meridolum sp. (a littoral rainforest species) several different types of living and senescent vegetation found in their natural habitat, as well as two species of commercially grown fungi. These experiments demonstrate that the camaenid snails studied show a preference for fungi over plant tissue but further experimental work is needed to examine feeding preferences for these and other land snails using an even greater range of potential food types.