Taxonomy, Conservation, and the Future of Native Aquatic Snails in the Hawaiian Islands
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Very nice paper, very well focussed and dealing with a high interest problem !
Felicitations to authors, I learned a lot !
Just 2 remarks : why is the malacological terrestrial fauna of Hawai islands much more diversified compared to freshwaters one ?
I should like to have an illustration of the organisms You're dealing with, a picture or a drawing should probably make your paper even more convincing.
Author Response
Please see attachment.
Reviewer 2 Report
Review
Paper title: Taxonomy, Conservation, and the Future of Native Aquatic Snails in the Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Archipelago is an important hotspot of biodiversity for one of highly endemic and threatened groups of freshwater snails. The authors review the taxonomic and conservation status of this group and described impacts to the habitats of these snails with particular attention to biological invasions. The authors concluded that native Hawaiian snails need to be protected and their paper may be considered a call for action to prevent extinction of these unique aquatic animals.
All these reasons explain the relevance of the paper by C.C. Christensen and co-authors submitted to "Diversity".
General scores.
The data presented by the authors are significant. The authors considered and comprehended relevant literature sources to provide an excellent overview in this field. We authors conducted careful work which will attract the attention of a wide range of specialists focused on the biology of mollusks and other invertebrates, and for specialists in welfare and conservation.
Specific comments.
P 1, L 1. Change “Article” to “Perspective”
- 2. Section “Taxonomic Overview of the Fauna”. The authors should insert photographs of the snails mentioned in this section.
P 3, L 4. Change “that that” to “that”
P 6, L 33. Change “one third” to “one-third”
P 6, L. 41-42. The authors stated “we estimate that some species of Hawaiian freshwater snails are unlikely to survive the next few decades”. The authors should clarify which species they have in mind. Please, indicate the most vulnerable species.
Author Response
Please see attachment
