The Society’s Non-marine Mollusc Recording Scheme provides the bulk of the distribution data available for these species in Britain and Ireland.
It deals with all terrestrial and freshwater snails, slugs and bivalves. A few brackish-water and peri-marine species have, at different times, been included in the Marine Mollusc Recording Scheme.
After over a century of recording on paper, the publication of an Atlas (Kerney, 1999) was a major milestone in the Scheme’s history. Since then, recording has become entirely digital. The Society has recently engaged with smartphone apps, particularly iRecord through which much of our data is now received.
The volume of records dealt with annually is increasing, and we are always keen for Society members to assist in running the Scheme.
Data availability
The Scheme’s records are available on the UK National Biodiversity Network NBN Atlas and, for Ireland, the National Biodiversity Data Centre. These datasets are made available under a CC-BY license and updated on a roughly annual basis.
The data on the NBN Atlas are available at full geographic resolution, apart from one protected and officially Sensitive species (Margaritifera margaritifera).
Other than via the NBN and NBDC, the Scheme does not automatically share data with other recording schemes such as Local Environmental Record Centres (LERCs).
Submission of records
Records can be submitted to the Scheme individually or in spreadsheet format (records in rows) to the Honorary Recorder at nonmarine@conchsoc.org.
Please ensure all records include a species name, locality name, grid reference (Ordnance Survey or Irish Grid), date, and recorder name. If possible, please include the Watsonian Vice-county name and/or number (obtainable via several sites online). If a record is based solely on empty shells (or even subfossils!) this should be indicated.
An increasing proportion of data is received via iRecord, run by the UK Biological Records Centre (BRC). The Society is the largest verifier of non-marine mollusc data on iRecord, and we aim to verify and harvest all records submitted to the system each year. Please note that iRecord covers Great Britain (including the Isle of Man), the Channel Islands, and Northern Ireland, though not The Republic of Ireland.
The Society also takes selected records from iNaturalist. However, we are currently unable to deal with all records that are submitted to this platform.
Please bear in mind that the Society is also unable to monitor every channel of social media (e.g. Facebook), traditional media, and other means of publication for mollusc records. We are grateful to be made aware of potentially important records from Britain or Ireland that we may have overlooked.
Verification
A high standard of confidence in species identification is a vital feature of the Society’s specialist Recording Schemes. All records accepted into the Scheme need to be verified by the Society’s Honorary Recorder, or a nominated deputy.
In practice, this is seldom controversial for widespread or regularly-recorded species, so relatively few records are rejected. However, for certain taxa, or significant new records (e.g. country or vice-county firsts), additional information such as photographs or even specimens are usually required.
References
Kerney, M. 1999. Atlas of the land and freshwater molluscs of Britain and Ireland. Harley Books/Conchological Society, Colchester, UK.