DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF TERRESTRIAL SPECIES OF MOLLUSKS IN GABON: CASE STUDY OF THE HAUT - OGOOUÉ PROVINCE

The purpose of the study is to contribute to the acquisition of knowledge on mollusks in Gabon. This work was conducted to identify the different species of terrestrial mollusks in the Haut - Ogooué Province in Gabon. It was realized in the cities of Franceville, Moanda and Okondja. The environments of observation of the mollusks were human dwellings, roadsides, garbage dumps, banana (Musa spp) fields and Macabo (Xanthosoma mafaffa) fields. In addition, in order to determine the abundance of the mollusks according to the time of collection, the time intervals 5:30 - 7:00 am, 2:00 - 3:30 pm and 6:30 - 8:00 pm were retained. After collection, the different species of mollusks were identified according to quarters, observation environments and time of collection in each city. The results revealed that, the number of mollusks varies from one quarter to another. Animal were mainly observed around human dwellings (584 mollusks), garbage dumps (507) and Macabo (Xanthosoma mafaffa) fields (499). A total of 2860 mollusks were collected in the 3 cities. Okondja was the city that recorded the largest number of mollusks collected (1240), followed by Franceville (1034) and Moanda (856). They were mainly collected from 6:30 to 8:00 pm (1939) and between 5:30 7:00 (862). The species identified were Achatina fulica, Achatina iostoma, Limicolairia spp, Archachatina marginata (Swainson) and Archachatina marginata (Saturalis). The two major genera of mollusks, namely the Archachatina and the Achatina, of consumer’s interest, are present in the study area.