A key to the potamidid snails (longbums, mudcreepers and treecreepers) of northern Australia

Abstract

Longbums and the smaller mudcreepers and treecreepers (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Cerithioidea: Potamididae) are amphibious surface-dwellers of tidal wetlands intimately associated with mangrove forests, depending on the trees for shelter from heat and desiccation, as a substrate, for food, and for protection from predators. A dichotomous key is presented to identify the eight species of Potamididae that occur in tropical northern Australia, several of which have similar looking shells. These species represent 27.6% of the global biodiversity for the family. This contribution describes the most useful features for distinguishing between species, and provides comments on habitat, ecological niche and geographical range of each species, with notes on exploitation by Aborigines. One species of true creeper, Cerithium coralium (Cerithioidea: Cerithiidae), is also included because it lives with, and may be easily confused with, juvenile longbums and/or the smaller potamidid species.