Dr John Stanisic OAM is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Queensland Museum and a Research Associate of the Australian Museum, Sydney. He is Australia’s foremost expert on land snails having held the position of Curator of Molluscs at the museum for 26 years. John has published numerous scientific and popular articles on the systematics, distribution and biogeography of land snails, in particular their association with rainforest and limestone. John was also Director and Principal Biodiversity Scientist at BAAM Pty Ltd, a specialist fauna and habitat consultancy firm. His main focus is the emerging use of invertebrates as environmental indicators in local and regional ecosystem management and has managed a number of large scale biodiversity surveys including a ground-breaking review of the Brisbane City invertebrates. Dr John Stanisic of Queensland environmental consultancy firm, Biodiversity Assessment and Management (BAAM) has won the 2010 Certified Environmental Practitioner of the Year award presented annually by the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand. This year he has won the Queensland Naturalist of the Year. Dr Stanisic is BAAM’s Principal Biodiversity Scientist and specialises in working with invertebrates (“the other 99%”) as indicators of ecosystem health and in assessing the impacts of ecosystem disturbance and success of regeneration. Previously Dr Stanisic was Curator of Molluscs at the Queensland Museum from 1980 to 2006. He is now Honorary Research Fellow at that institution and as a private consultant is in the unique position to create a bridge between commercial and research institutions to the benefit of both, and most of all to the understanding of the potential to utilise terrestrial invertebrate species as a true measure of biodiversity. It is his hope that in the future this information will be used to better guide decisions for the adequate conservation of all biodiversity. Read more about Dr Stanisic’s awards, positions and qualifications. Winner Queensland Naturalist of the Year, 2018

Land Snails of Australia

The publication of the two somewhat hefty field guides has paved the way for an opportunity to produce this more general guide to Australia’s native land snails, their diversity and role in the Australian environment. In contrast to the structured nature of the two field guides, this handbook is a more entertaining overview of Australia’s native land snail fauna through a short introduction to the many aspects of their natural history, biology and classification. A guide to the families of Australia’s native snails presents diagnostic features of live snails and their shells in an easy to understand way to assist with their identification. A comprehensive coverage of introduced families deals with the many exotic species acquired by Australia since foundation. In a unique bioregional approach to snail identification, the reader is taken on a trek through some of Australia’s iconic regions highlighting their endemic and special snail faunas. This section is supplemented with key localities to some of the species to be found along the way, to enable the keen naturalist to observe these creatures in the wild.

The shells of most land snails are intrinsically beautiful but so are the live snails. Accordingly, the guide is richly illustrated with some of Australia’s most iconic snail species in living colour to help the reader fully appreciate these wonderful creatures.

The Australian native land snail fauna is, with the exception of a few widely ranging species, wholly endemic. There is also a cohort of species, introduced following European settlement, that inhabit urban gardens and otherwise disturbed environments such as orchards and farmlands. Among these are a small number of serious pest species whose impact will be briefly discussed in more detail in the family treatments.

To find out more and/or pre-order, click here

Australian Land Snails Volume 1

Buy the field guide to eastern Australian species.He is lead author of ‘Australian Land Snails Volume 1‘– a field guide to eastern Australian species”, the first contemporary popular and scientific guide to the identification of 796 species of the rich land snail found in the forests and urban areas of eastern Australia. By popularising a much maligned group of invertebrates, Dr Stanisic hopes that the group as a whole will gain greater recognition for their contribution to the well-being of human kind. Winner of the Whitley Medal, 2011

Australian Land Snails Volume 2

Dr Stanisic is also lead author of the eagerly awaited (and soon to be released) ‘Australian Land Snails Volume 2‘. Australian Land Snails Volume 2 covers 756 species in 39 families from an area that extends from western Queensland and New South Wales to Victoria and Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory; several species from Christmas Island are also included. The field guide is dominated by the Camaenidae (480 species) which has radiated exuberantly in the semi-arid and arid areas of Australia. Contained in the guide are more than 2000 colour images plus descriptions, distribution maps, key localities and habitat and ecology notes. Most species are illustrated in colour for the first time. Thirty-five genera and five species are described as new. This guide is targeted at both professional and semi-professional malacologists as well as students, amateur natural historians and those involved in land management. But whether it is used as a manual for study or as an identification handbook, this field guide should be an inspiration for those with an interest in the natural world.

 Facts About Snails

This gives information about our Australian Land Snail species. Find information on

• Blog by the Snail Whisperer
• Snail Facts
• Types of Snails
• Current Australian Research
• Escargot [and recipes!]