Books for the identification of British non-marine molluscs

The following list is not exhaustive but is a good general resource to identify the non-marine species found in Britain. Note that some of those listed are out of print but copies can usually be obtained from good second hand book sellers.

  • Beedham, G.E. 1972. Identification of the British Mollusca. Hulton Educational Publications, London.
  • Cameron, R.A.D., Eversham, B.C. & Jackson, N.C.S. 1983. A field key to the slugs of the British Isles. Field Studies 5: 807 - 824.
  • Cameron, R.A.D. 2003. Land Snails in the British Isles. FSC Publications, Preston Montford.
  • Ellis, A.E. 1926. (reprinted with appendix 1969). British Snails. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
  • Ellis, A.E. 1978. British Freshwater Bivalve Mollusca. Published for the Linnean Society by Academic Press, London.
  • Gittenberger, E., Janssen, A.W., Kuijper, W.J., Kuiper, J.G.J., Meijer, T., van der Velde, G. & de Vries, J.N. 2004. De Nederlandse zoetwatermollusken. Recente en fossiele weekdieren uit zoet en brak water. -- Nederlandse Fauna 2. Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis, KNNV Uitgeverij & EIS-Nederland, Leiden, 288pp. The 2004 print is the second edition, which has been slightly updated as compared with the first of 1998. The book is applicable to NW European (non-phreatic) fresh water molluscs (bivalves and gastropods), and includes the Quaternary fossils. In Dutch.
  • Gloer, P. & Meier-Brook, C. 1994. Süsswassermollusken. Hamburg. Deutscher Jugendbund für Naturbeobachtung (in German).
  • Gloer, P. 2002 Süsswassergastropoden Nord- und Mitteleuropas. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. (in German).
  • Janus, H. 1965. The Young Specialist Looks at Molluscs. Burke, London.
  • Janus, H. 1982. The Illustrated Guide to Molluscs. Starke, London.
  • Killeen, I., Aldridge, D. & Oliver, P.G. 2004. Freshwater Bivalves of Britain and Ireland. FSC Publications, Preston Montford.
  • Kerney, M.P. & Cameron, R.A.D. 1979. A Field Guide to the Land Snails of Britain and North-west Europe. Collins, London.
  • Macan, T.T. 1977 (Fourth edition). A key to the British Fresh- and Brackish-water Gastropods. Freshwater Biological Association. Scientific Publication no. 13.
  • Pfleger, V. & Chatfield, J. 1988. A Guide to the Snails of Britain and Europe. Hamlyn, London.
  • Quick, H.E. 1960. British Slugs. Bulletin of Brit. Mus. (Nat.Hist.) 6(3): 106-226.
  • Runham N.W. & Hunter, P.J. 1970. Terrestrial Slugs. Hutchinson University Library, London. 184pp.