Search the SPREP Catalogue

The increasing westernisation of the indigenous cultures of the Pacific Islands has resulted in a decreasing dependence of these cultures on the plants and vegetation in their environment.

Land snails of the genus Partula from the island of Moorea in French Polynesia have for more than a century provided a natural laboratory for the study of variation, genetic polymorphism, and speciation. As a result of the intentional introduction of the predatory snail, Euglandina rosea, all the species of Partula from Moorea are now extinct in the wild. Since Euglandina is spreading rapidly on Tahiti, the demise of partula on the island also is imminent. Attempts are being made through the International Union for the Conservation of Nature for the captive breeding of those stocks that remain in the laboratory.

Streams and rivers on the islands of Vanua Levu, Ovalau, Gau, Kadavu and Taveuni, Fiji, were investigated for gastropods, water conductivity, water hardness, temperature, substrate, and current speed during 1983 and 1984. As at other Indo-Pacific islands there was a diverse and abundant lotic gastropod fauna. Twenty-six species were collected on Vanua Levu and 13-16 species were found in each torrential stream studied on the other four islands. Upstream, above the influence of the tide, both the longitudinal and horizontal distributions of gastropods appeared to be mainly dependent on the water speed and type of substrate. A suspected new species of Acochlidium (Opisthobranchia) was discovered on the island of Vanua Levu.