Heartache for Jeremy the snail, frozen out of ‘lefty’ love triangle

LOVE is a hard game to play when you are the odd one out.

So when two potential mates were found for Jeremy the “lefty” garden snail – whose shell spirals anti-clockwise leaving its sex organs on the wrong side – things were looking up.

But Jeremy has now ended up on the losing side of a gastropod love triangle after its two left-coiling matches – Lefty from Ipswich and Tomeau from Majorca – ended up pairing off with each other instead.

And to make matters even worse, Jeremy appears to have been left bringing up their love children.

Snails, which are hermaphrodites, mate face-to-face, normally sliding past each other on the right-hand side so their genitalia can meet. To copulate, snails that have a rare genetic mutation making them “lefties” must beat one-in-a million odds to find a mate with compatible sex organs.

Lefty and Tomeau were offered as suitable mates for Jeremy by a snail enthusiast in Norfolk and a Spanish farmer after a worldwide hunt was launched by gene researchers from Nottingham University. Lefty and Tomeau’s first batch of eggs together was laid in April and now a total of 170 young, which are each right-coiled, have been born.

“The irony is, it’s like that thing where maybe you introduce your best friend to a girl you’re interested in,” Dr

‘The irony is, it’s like that thing where maybe you introduce your best friend to a girl you’re interested in’

Angus Davison, a biologist at the University of Nottingham who is also Jeremy’s keeper, told Radio 4’s Today programme. “The two snails got together.”

The researchers aimed to study the genetics of left-sidedness and are seeking to study a gene that also affects body asymmetry in other animals – including humans.

Research using these snails could offer the chance to develop understanding of how organs are placed in the body and why this process can sometimes go wrong. Researchers are still seeking a suitable partner for Jeremy, who was originally found around a compost heap in Raynes Park, south-west London, by a retired scientist from the Natural History Museum. But the snail is said to have embraced its role as a “loveable uncle”. This attribute, at least, should make Jeremy more appealing to a future lover.

Lefty prefers the company of Tomeau from Majorca, Jeremy’s other potential mate, and the two proceed to procreate. They now have 170 young together

Jeremy, left, is introduced to Lefty from Ipswich who seems to find a green leaf more appealing

Jeremy the snail was unable to mate with conventional right-sided snails, prompting researchers to launch a worldwide hunt for a fellow leftsided match

Jeremy is left bringing up their offspring, but is proving to be a rather willing ‘uncle’