ABSTRACT
Like most northerners I scan the map of Africa from north to south and my bird’s-eye view of its snails begins at the Mediterranean coast. By looking first at northern Africa we can examine the southern limits for species derived from the Palaearctic Region and then study the limits of penetration by tropical species towards the cool southern tip of the continent. The success of introduced pulmonates is a feature of southern Africa and they are discussed together with the other snails introduced into African fresh waters. A large part of the tropical fauna is then covered in accounts for islands, major lakes and the larger river basins. A summary of biogeographical aspects follows; the Afrotropical freshwater snail fauna is highly distinctive in comparison with other continents, in relation to its origins and subsequent history.
