Did you know that the bees that need saving are NOT honeybees?
Honeybees are the dairy cows of bees. People brought them over from Europe to make us honey.
The problem with honeybees, esp in resource-limited ecosystems (like hey! cities!) is that they compete with our native bees for food.
This morning, a couple local kids job shadowed me for an experiment on flatworm predation on slugs. This evening, I submitted a paper on science education and outreach with molluscs. It's been a good day 🐌🤓 #JoyOfMolluscs
What cute little weirdos 💜
A deer skull with knobby antlers, submitted to the 2024 Bisita Luta deer hunting competition on Rota Islands. The skull sits in front of a "Most Unique" sign.
Seedling of a native plant (Chamorro: kafu, English: screwpine, scientific name: Pandanus tectorius) damaged by deer grazing. Kafu is an important host plant for akaleha' luta (English: Rota tree snail, scientific name: Partula lutaensis), an at-risk tree snail species found only on Rota.
Oh Deer!
Philippine deer (Chamorro: binadu, scientific name: Rusa marianna) were introduced to Guam in the 1770s & later the Northern Marianas. Deer hunting is important to CNMI culture. In the Philippines, deer are vulnerable to extinction. But here, deer are invasive & damage native habitat 🦌
Catfishing as a catfish
A juvenile akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawling on a young breadfruit tree. The snail crawls away from the observer, stretching its sensory tentacles towards the future.
A neonate akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) resting on the underside of a leaf.
A subadult akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawling on a fern. The snail’s shell is starting to form a lip at the opening, a sign of maturity.
A neonate akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawling on a leaf.
🎉✨🎇🎆Happy New Year!🎆🎇✨🎉
Here’s to another year of akaleha’ tree snail conservation successes & surprises in 2026
Please enjoy these baby akaleha' as we welcome the young year
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs 🐌
Dr. Ann Marie Gawel (left) and Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne (right) during a fieldwork day on Rota Island.
Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne looks at an akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on a thin piece of dry palm frond.
An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawling along a branch, as seen from below. The shell is pale lemon yellow with a dark maroon stripe following the spiral.
1. 🥁drumroll🥁
We learned about more Rota sites with akaleha' tree snails!
😲 Stumbled into thriving disjunct (sub)populations at a known site
👆 @anngawel.bsky.social showed us a spot she knew a decade ago
💬 Community reports (& GPS point) for a spot we have yet to visit
🐌🎉
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
No, I don't, but other folks might. A lot of what I've heard makes it sound recent, like tied to the tourist industry. I do know that akaleha' collecting and crafting continued until the mid to late 20th century
An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on one of their favorite plants, a Flagellaria indica vine. Can you find the snail?
An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on one of their favorite plants, a Triphasia trifolia shrub.
An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on one of their favorite plants, a young Morinda citrifolia tree. Can you find the snail?
An akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) on one of their favorite plants, a Pandanus dubius screwpine.
2. We did a study on habitats & host plants for 2 species of akaleha' tree snails on Rota
🔅Partula lutaensis uses habitats with big shade trees but prefers not to live on these trees
↔️Samoana fragilis is hard to study, because individual snails are so spread out
🐌🌴🌳🌿📝
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
Two bunches of akaleha’ shell beads. All shells are pink with golden tips and white stripes following the shell spiral. Photo by Dr. Ann Marie Gawel.
Purse beaded with white and pink akaleha’ shells in a checkerboard pattern. There are more akaleha’ purses in a variety of colors in the background. Photo by Dr. Ann Marie Gawel.
3. We learned from dozens of manamko (elders) on Rota about past collecting & uses of akaleha' tree snails. So did @anngawel.bsky.social! Thank you to the older generations for sharing your memories of jungles filled with akaleha' 💗🐌
👵🏽🧑🏿🦳👴🏾👨🏽🦳🧓🏼👩🏾🦳
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #MolluscMonday
Two akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snails, Partula lutaensis).
An akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis).
A humped tree snail (Partula gibba). Photo by Dr. Brenden Holland.
4. We secured nearly $300k USD in funding for akaleha' tree snail conservation
🥾US Fish & Wildlife Service Competitive State Wildlife Grant for Partula lutaensis & Samoana fragilis on Rota
🫡Dept of Defense cooperative agreement for Partula gibba on Tinian
🐌
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #MolluscMonday
An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawls down a palm frond on Rota Island.
An akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) crawls up a tree trunk on Rota Island.
5. This is a sad one
Using long-term monitoring data since 2019, we showed that one population of akaleha' luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) and the only known Rota population of akaleha dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) are shrinking
🐌📉
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #SnailSunday
Bleached, broken akaleha’ shells, probably chewed by rats.
A pile of New Guinea flatworms (Chamorro: ulu’ atilung, Platydemus manokwari). There are too many flatworms to count.
An unidentified flatworm crawling on a lichen-covered rock on Rota Island. The flatworm is yellow with dark stripes down its back. It is very long and doubled over on itself.
An unidentified ribbon worm crawling on a tree trunk on Rota Island. The ribbon worm is tan with a faint stripe down its back.
6. We started monitoring invasive predators of akaleha' tree snails
🐀Rats
👿New Guinea flatworms - probably the leading cause of akaleha' decline
🪱"Mystery" flatworms & ribbon worms - collected for future identification & DNA analysis
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #SnailSunday 🐌
A is for Aaaaba
Not long overall, but an obnoxiously long string of As
A child compares akaleha’ shells to other kinds of snail shells with Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne at the Gilita Festival on Rota Island.
Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne shows local Rota children a slide of an akaleha’ shell purse at the CNMI Department of Community & Cultural Affairs Division of Youth Services Back2School Summer Youth Empowerment Camp.
Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne virtually presents “Food & Shade: Habitat characteristics and host plant preferences of the single-island endemic Pacific Island tree snail Partula lutaensis (Stylommatophora: Partulidae)” at the World Congress of Malacology 2025 in Brazil.
7. We expanded local & international akaleha' tree snail outreach
Local 🇲🇵
Info booth at Rota festivals
Taught kids at a Rota summer camp
Int'l 🌏
Akaleha' habitat data at World Congress of Malacology
Taught kids in China with @skypeascientist.bsky.social
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #SnailSaturday
An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawls on the underside of a leaf on Rota Island.
Three akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snails, Partula lutaensis) crawl on vines on Rota Island.
An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawls across a leaf on Rota Island.
An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawls on a palm frond on Rota Island.
8. We made data-backed akaleha' tree snail management recommendations
🏝️Once-a-decade updates to the CNMI Wildlife Action Plan🇲🇵
🥾US Fish and Wildlife Service Mariana Islands Conservation Strategy
🫡CNMI Joint Military Training Revised Environmental Impact Statement
🐌📊🤓
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
An akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) on old wire fencing on Rota Island. The snail is in estivation, a state of dormancy in response to dry weather. Because the shell is transparent, it is possible to see that the snail has drawn itself deep into the shell.
9. We hired local contractors to remove a fence at an akaleha' tree snail site on Rota🇲🇵 This fence was originally built to keep deer from harming akaleha' habitat, but typhoon damage made it useless. What a relief to remove all that metal from the jungle!
🐌🌳🥅🦌
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
A researcher pulls up a leaf to reveal an akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on Rota Island. The shell fades from deep red-brown near the opening to pale beige at the tip. The lip around the shell opening is pale peach, and there is a deep maroon stripe following the shell coil.
Researcher Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne looks at an akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) hanging from a large leaf on Rota Island. The snail’s shell is transparent, revealing the yellow and brown pattern on the flesh underneath.
10. We updated our survey methods to more accurately map areas occupied by akaleha' tree snails. We’re now finding snails further away than expected from the dense hearts of akaleha' populations
🐌📋🗺️
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
Collage of akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snails, Partula lutaensis) from Rota Island.
2025 was a year of progress & discoveries for akaleha' tree snail conservation here in the CNMI 🐌 Akaleha' are tree snails in Family Partulidae native to the Mariana Islands🇲🇵🇬🇺
To count down the new year,
Here's our Top 10 Akaleha' Conservation Moments of 2025
#InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs
That's excellent! I'm excited to hear how it goes
PhDs can be a motherf*cker. If you want to chat with someone on the other side of that experience as you make your way through it, I'm happy to send you my WhatsApp or email
I had the delight of meeting these (or a related species) and other very large snails while studying abroad in Ecuador back in 2013
Why are there giant land snails in the tropics (e.g. these Ecuadorian species, giant African snails), but giant slugs in temperate zones?
#JoyOfMolluscs 🐌
Hey, I wanna hear about your PhD. Discipline? Topic/project? Years in program?
Gotta love Lisa Frank squid babies
Also gotta love creative uses of mucus
#JoyOfMolluscs
Rota tree snail (Chamorro: akaleha' Luta, Partula lutaensis) crawling on a palm frond.
May I suggest snails
Sometimes, the student's expectations for themselves are here 👉🏻
And their work is here 👉🏻
And the instructor's expectations are here 👉🏻
So they think they did bad, but they didn't
🍄🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🌷
🍀🍀🍀🌷🍀🍀🍀🌷🍀
🍀🍀🌷🌷🍄🍀🌷🍀🌷
🍀🍀🍀🌺🍀🍀🌷🌷🌷
🌺🌺🍀🌷🍀🍀🍀🍀🌷
🌷🍀🍀🐌🍀🌺🍀🌺🍀
🍀🍀🍀🌺🍀🌷🍀🍀🍀
Lovely piece from @anngawel.bsky.social on akaleha' tree snails in Guam & the CNMI. Dr. Gawel visited Rota to hear from elders on how they collected & used akaleha'. And she helped me map living akaleha' & showed me an akaleha' site I didn't know! #JoyOfMolluscs
www.guampdn.com/lifestyle/st...
- obsessed with slugs as a kid
- learned in 8th grade that paid to play with slugs = "biology"
- research opportunities in undergrad & grad school for shelled snails, so I expanded my horizons to the shelly
- postdoc was ending & saw a job posting for snail conservation on a tropical Pacific Island
