Graecoanatolica macedonica

Graecoanatolica macedonica on a 1 Denar coin.
Photo: © Alexander Mrkvicka, Vienna.

Until the year 2000, the Macedonian spring snail species Graecoanatolica macedonica was known as an endemic species from the vicinity of Lake Dojran on the border between Macedonia and Greece, where the species was found in the littoral zone on stony and sandy ground in depths between 0 and 50 cm. The first dramatic decline took place in the 1970s, when the lake's water level dropped. When a large amount of lake water drained in 1988, the lake's water level dropped another 60 cm, which caused the isolation of the habitat zone the snails used to live in. Altogether, from a water depth of 10.4 m in the 1930s, the water level dropped to 5.6 m in the year 1995.

Until the year 2000, it had been assumed the species had gone extinct. Since then no living specimens have been found.

Subfossil shells that might have been washed out of the sediment do not allow the conclusion that the species might have survived. Only recently, fresher shells have been found that indeed do give rise to the hope that the species might have survived, probably in an isolated part of the lake, and has been able to adapt to the changing environmental conditions.

Following the assessment published in the Red List, for clarification further invesitgations are necessary to determin, whether the shells found are subfossil or fresh, and of course, if the species has survived somewhere in the vicinity of that lake. Sadly, the lake's water is intesively used for agriculture in the region. The lake is impaired further by the influx of fertiliser and pesticides from the agricultural areas around, resulting in eutrophication and reduced water quality.

Albrecht, C.; Hauffe, T.; Reischütz, P. (2011): Graecoanatolica macedonica. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>.
WoRMS: MolluscaBase eds. (2025): Graecoanatolica macedonica Radoman & Stankovič, 1979.