The occurrence and distribution of freshwater snails in a heavily industrialised region of Poland (Upper Silesia)

Anthropogenic water bodies namely fish ponds, clay pits, sand pits, dam reservoirs or mining subsidence pools are the characteristic feature of Upper Silesian landscape. In the study, the gastropod communities occurring in 296 anthropogenic water bodies were discussed in relation to their distribution in macroregions of Upper Silesia, role in industrialised and urbanised environment and the significance for regional biodiversity.In period 1998–2002, 31 freshwater gastropod species were found in the study area. It is noteworthy, that the anthropogenic water habitats of Upper Silesia provide a refuge for several rare and vulnerable species, among them e.g. Anisus leucostoma (Millet, 1813), Gyraulus rossmaessleri (V. Auerswald, 1852) and Hippeutis complanatus (Linnaeus, 1758).