LAUSR

The knowledge on the floral and faunal composition of protected areas (PAs) is crucial for formulating suitable conservation plan.  In this paper, inventory and species richness of non-marine molluscs of Chintamoni Kar Bird Sanctuary has been made and is for the first time from any PA of West Bengal.  A total of 276 specimens belonging to 22 species (10 species of land snails and 12 species of freshwater) of non-marine molluscs (land and freshwater) were collected and examined from this sanctuary.  The malacofaunal inventory comprises of nine genera under seven families among land snails and 12 genera & seven families from both gastropods & bivalves under the freshwater forms.  As far as species richness is concerned, the family Ariophantidae was found to be dominant among land forms whereas species of the families Thiaridae and Unionidae were dominant among freshwater forms.