Gastropod surveys in south-eastern Victoria Island

As the range of the muskox lungworms Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis and Varestrongylus nov. sp. on Victoria Island, Nunavut have recently expanded, a critical look at the distribution and abundance of their gastropod intermediate hosts is imperative for identifying regions susceptible to future parasite colonization. During July-September 2013, we sampled for gastropods at five terrestrial sites and five freshwater sites on south-eastern Victoria Island, near the hamlet of Cambridge Bay. At each terrestrial site four habitats were described and sampled: these habitats were fen meadows, shrub-sedge meadows, and moist upland and mesic habitats. Gastropods were surveyed systematically using two terrestrial techniques, a dampened mat technique and a turf flooding technique. At the freshwater sites we opportunistically sampled several lakes, rivers, streams and marshes using a dip-net. Terrestrial surveys were conducted over three nights and any gastropods present were collected daily. One species of terrestrial slug, Deroceras laeve, was found during the surveys. It was present in low densities across three of the habitats: fen meadows, shrub-sedge meadows and moist upland habitat. We did not find any freshwater gastropods or snail shells during the surveys. Data are available in both excel and csv formats.