The Family Endodontidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in East Africa

The family Endodontidae entirely comprises very minute or small land shells, being a very ancient family whose members occur in most parts of the world. None were recorded for East Africa by VON MARTENS (1898) in his book on the non-marine mollusca. This book remains the only available work on our snails and nothing of any importance has appeared since which covers even a portion of the same field. E. A. SMITH (1903, p. 317) at one time the authority on African snails described two species from Uganda which he placed in the genus Gonyodiscus Fitz. DAUTZENBERG and GERMAIN (1914, p. 19) also described two. It is impossible to decide which genus these four species should really be placed in, since it is imperative that the animal should be dissected. Until living material is collected in the type localities it will not be possible to classify these forms satisfactorily.