Brackish water snails from Qi’ao-Dan’gan Island in the Pearl River estuary, China

Eight brackish water snails belonging to 5 families are described. All the samples were taken from 3 different types of water body. They were taken from 1 littoral of an artificial brackish lake, 1 intertidal zone of a brackish tidal river, and 3 mangrove swamps on Qi’ao Island in the Pearl River estuary, Guangdong Province, southern China. Assiminea estuarina Habe, 1946 and Iravadia (Fairbankia) cochinchinensis Bavey Dautzenberg, 1910 are new records for China. Cerithidea sinensis Philippi, 1848 was found in a tropical zone for the first time. The finding of Sphaerassiminea brevicula (Pfeiffer, 1855) provided evidence that this species can tolerate brackish or salt water. Iravadia ornata Blanford, 1867 was the most widespread species at the sampling sites. The types of water and habitat temperature mainly affected the distribution of Melanoides tuberculata (Müller, 1774).