Mollusk loves: Becoming with native and introduced land snails in the Hawaiian Islands

0Citations
Citations of this article
12Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Hawaiian island land snails once represented one of the most diverse archipelagic evolutionary radiations. Historically, indigenous Hawaiians (Kānaka maoli) and Westerners also heard some snails (kāhuli) sing. Today, most of these species are extinct or endangered. One major cause has been the intentional mid-20th century introduction of a land snail, Euglandina rosea, for the biological control of another mollusk, Lissachatina fulica. In this article, I join efforts of noticing and engaging landscapes of the situated Anthropocene with the goal of demonstrating the potential for mollusks to be dynamic alliance-forming companions. In articulating methods of becoming with snails, I pass kāhuli through Western and Kānaka maoli knowledge-making projects. First considering the evolutionary biological work of John Gulick and his counterparts to genealogize contemporary snail-love, I then elaborate on what care and hope might mean with Pacific Island land snails living through ongoing environmental dispossession and alteration. I then reconsider Euglandina on parallel conceptual terms, engaging natural historical and laboratory accounts to think with the introduced mollusk beyond its categorization as ‘alien invader’. Loving Euglandina as well as kāhuli may help realize livable futures for indigenous and introduced Hawaiian island mollusks alike, in a world hopefully full of snail-song.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Galka, J. (2022). Mollusk loves: Becoming with native and introduced land snails in the Hawaiian Islands. Island Studies Journal, 17(1), 102–122. https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.383

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free