Nonmarine Mollusks of New Caledonia — SOLEM 
135 
Family SAGDIDAE 
Lacteoluna sp. belongs to a West Indian com- 
plex. It was introduced prior to 1928. 
Family EULOTIDAE 
Brady baena similaris (Ferussac, 1821) was 
probably native to southeast Asia and Indo- 
nesia, but is now pantropical and often present 
in subtemperate areas. It reached New Cale- 
donia before 1911 and has long been established 
in such Pacific island groups as the New Hebri- 
des, Fiji, Society, and Hawaiian islands. 
Family HELICIDAE 
Helix {Crypt omphalus) aspersa (Muller, 
1774) is a European species widely used for 
food that has been introduced into nearly all 
portions of the Pacific world, from California 
and Juan Fernandez to Tahiti and New Zealand. 
Its importation to New Caledonia can be traced 
to a visit by a French man-of-war to Lifu in 
1879, with a local Frenchman thoughtfully put- 
ting the young in his garden to keep a supply 
of escargot (see Kew, 1893:205-206). 
DISCUSSION 
It is quite possible that many of the species 
listed as established comparatively recently were 
overlooked by earlier collectors, and undoubtedly 
some of the pantropical species were introduced 
into New Caledonia from secondary centers 
{i.e., the West Indian Subulina octona being 
brought in from Reunion Island). Multiple in- 
troductions almost certainly happened. Despite 
these limitations, a chronological listing of in- 
troductions shows a reasonable correlation with 
the patterns of settlement and commerce, and 
provides an instructive example of the faunal 
homogenization occurring in land-snail faunas 
today. 
Data on the history have been taken from 
O’Reilly (1953). 
In the early 1840’s sandalwood traders were 
visiting New Caledonia and by 1850 several 
attempts had been made at establishing mis- 
sions. During the 1850’s considerable coloniza- 
tion took place and in 1860 there were 432 
European residents. The following introduced 
snails had been found: 
Rhachistia histrio from Africa 
Lamellaxis {Allop eas) gracile from West 
Indies or Africa 
Gastrocopta pediculus from Polynesia (?) 
In this period Madagascar and the islands of 
Mauritius and Reunion were provisioning stops 
for ships from France to the Pacific. It is thus 
quite possible that the Rhachistia and Lamellaxis 
(presumably well established by this time in 
the Malagasy region) were brought in on orna- 
mental plants. Possibly the Gastrocopta had 
been introduced by primitive man. 
During the 1860’s regular service was insti- 
tuted between French Polynesia and New Cale- 
donia, and ship passage to Europe was reduced 
to 94 days. Commercial contacts with Australia 
were moderately frequent. Some ships came via 
the French West Indies. The following intro- 
ductions were discovered: 
Ancylus reticulatus possibly from Europe 
Angustipes plebeius from the West Indies 
Ceciliodes aperta from the West Indies 
Coneuplecta calculosa from Polynesia 
Liardetia samoensis from Polynesia 
T ornatellinops noumeensis possibly from 
Polynesia 
All the above can readily be derived through 
accidental introduction on land plants or on 
water cress {Ancylus). 
In the 1870’s several colonization schemes 
suffered varying degrees of success, regular mail 
service was established with Sydney, and the 
growing of sugar cane became extensive. Newly 
discovered imports were: 
Deroceras laeve probably direct from 
Europe 
Helix aspersa from a French man-of-war 
Elasmias mariei possibly from Polynesia 
Pupisoma dioscoricola from the West Indies 
Ancylus noumeensis from an unknown 
locality 
The growth in importance of the nickel 
mines, increasing colonization, and better com- 
