What has a black shell, white head warts and eyes on stalks but is still, against all odds, cute?
There are not very many native Dural land snails left. They have been classified as endangered at a state level for some time but now a move is afoot (a slimy gastropod foot) to have them recognised nationally as endangered.
The little Dural land snail’s shell is never larger than 2cm, putting it at a similar size to a garden snail.
It is found in shale areas near where they transition into sandstone, in woodlands. In the Hawkesbury and Hills areas they have been found at East Kurrajong, Grose Wold, Glossodia, St Albans, Wisemans Ferry, through to Glenorie, Dural and Mulgoa. It is found under rocks, logs, bark and in leaf litter.
It’s no speed demon, even as snails go, covering just under a metre a night – and that was the maximum distance observed. They forage from dusk to dawn.
Its habitat and known populations of the snail have been destroyed through land clearing since the creature was first documented.
Senior biodiversity officer at Greater Sydney Local Land Services, Peter Ridgeway, has made a study of the little creatures and found they exist now in very low densities.
“But the greatest concentration is at Ellerman Park at Round Corner,” he said, where they can still be seen in the warmer months grazing on the moss on the side of the path.
They have a brown to black shell which is not mottled like a garden snail, and they are hermaphrodites, which means they are both male and female. They still need another individual to mate, but both parties go away and lay eggs.
“They’re the forest’s cleaners,” Mr Ridgeway said. “They clean up bacteria and fungus. They don’t eat plants, so they won’t destroy your garden.” They also scoff algae and lichen.
The big problem is that land clearing has fragmented their populations so it’s very hard for them to meet each other. Their lack of speed also doesn’t help. A number of populations have now been isolated into remnants under five hectares in size. The danger from this is genetic isolation which leads to inbreeding, which weakens and depletes populations.
Dr Mark Eldridge from the Scientific Committee looking into whether the snail should be put on the national ‘endangered’ list said gaining an endangered label meant if the creature has been identified on a development site, then its presence has to be taken into account when deciding how or if the development proceeds.
“There are three categories if a species is threatened,” he said. “Vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered.” The one after that is - extinct.
If you see a Dural land snail, make a note of the location and contact Mr Ridgeway so he can document the sighting, at peter.ridgeway@lls.nsw.gov.au.
Mr Ridgeway has also been contacting arborists asking for logs to put back in the environment as they are used by so many species as habitat. He’s already placed some in Scheyville National Park and Mulgoa Nature Reserve and found they start forming hollows for creatures to use in less than a year.
“Roll them over and you have lizards, cockroaches, antechinuses – then the native robins come and feed off the insects,” Mr Ridgeway said. Lichen and fungus also grow on them, attracting the snails.
If you have any logs you could donate to the project please use the above email.