ABSTRACT
Introductory remarks on the higher classification of the African freshwater gastropods are given at the beginning of the first part of this synopsis (Chapter 3). Here we consider the freshwater pulmonates, which often are classified, as in the first edition of this book, in the order Basommatophora (having the eyes situated near the bases of the pair of tentacles, rather than at the ends of the tentacles as in the terrestrial pulmonates). The family Ellobiidae is included here, although these snails are practically restricted to marine and brackish habitats, since some species may be encountered by the freshwater collector working at the coast. As the Basommatophora seems unlikely to be a single evolutionary unit (Hubendick, 1978) and will probably not survive as a group in classification, these snails will be referred to here simply as ‘pulmonates’.
