The Littoral Mollusca of Greenisland, Co Antrim: 40 Years of Change in Belfast Lough

During the period 1930-1940, McMillan studied the littoral Mollusca of Greenisland, Co Antrim, and listed the species found and their relative abundance. A similar study in 1979 by the authors found no new species of mollusk, but found only 9 species where McMillan had found 49 species. Part of this discrepancy may be due to the fact that the recent survey was conducted over a shorter period, and therefore failed to find the rarer species. Of the more common species found by McMillan, 18 species appear to have been lost from the Greenisland list. Other littoral macrofauna of the area, previously recorded, are absent too.