List Of Non-marine Molluscs Of Turkey

The non-marine molluscs of the country of Turkey are a part of the molluscan fauna of Turkey. The biodiversity of non-marine molluscs of Turkey is richer than in surrounding European states.Şereflişan H., Yildirim M. Z. & Şereflişan M. (2009). "The gastropod fauna and their abundance, and some physicochemical parameters of Lake Gölbaşı (Hatay, Turkey)". ''Turkish Journal of Zoology'' 33(3): 287-296
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There are at least 825 species of non-marine molluscs living in the wild in Turkey. An approximate guess to the total number, however, is of about 1030 non-marine molluscs in Turkey (see the table below).

There are a total of 825 species of gastropods, which breaks down to 95 (counted 80 "Prosobranchia" only and at least 15 other freshwater snails from this list) taxa of freshwater gastropods (including brackish water species),Yildirim M. Z., Koca S. B. & Kebapçi U. (2006). "Supplement to the Prosobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) Fauna of Fresh and Brackish Waters of Turkey". ''Turkish Journal of Zoology'' 30: 197-204
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/ref> and 730 species (and subspecies) of land gastropods. There is also relevant number of freshwater bivalves living in the wild in Turkey.

According to Gümüş ''et al.''. (2009), the Turkish malacofauna of land gastropods currently comprises 730 valid species and subspecies of terrestrial snails, belonging to 36 families.

Gümüş ''et al.''. (2009) stated that Turkey has a very rich freshwater malacofauna with a very large proportion of endemic species. Those authors estimated that Turkey is inhabited by at least 300 species of freshwater molluscs.

There are also significant numbers of non-indigenous species, including bivalves and various synanthropic gastropods and bivalves.

Land gastropods overview

A country such as Turkey, with a highly variable relief and a diversified climate and vegetation, can support a similarly rich and diversified malacofauna of terrestrial gastropods. Consequently, the recent changes in both land use and climate (which is gradually shifting from semi-arid and winter-cold Central Turkey to a subtropical periphery with high humidity during winter) have immediately affected the malacofauna, causing area shifts following the unstable environmental conditions, including depletion or even complete loss of some populations. Increasing pasture farming leads to a loss of forest vegetation, and thus to a loss of those molluscan species which are adapted to such conditions.

The recent rise of average summer temperature resulting from global warming may particularly affect the Mediterranean species. Gümüş ''et al.''. (2009) speculated that both the average length of the dry summer period and the absolute temperature are rising, and that the aestivation period of species adapted to the Mediterranean drought is now too long. The animals die from starvation or desiccation, and several species or subspecies may already be approaching the verge of extinction.

As far as nomenclature, an average of two to three additional synonym names for each taxon are available to land gastropods in Turkey.

The degree of endemism for the area of Turkey is about 65%. The degree of endemism on the species level is relatively high and is comparable to that of Greece, which houses the highest number of terrestrial snail taxa in Europe, with a similarly high value of endemism. In Turkey, several pulmonate families reach a maximum of biodiversity. The biodiversity has been able to develop there without any major interruptions since the Pliocene