Interesting facts about snails

Did you know?

Asnail has a soft, unsegmented body that is long, moist and slimy. The body is normally protected by a hard shell.  The snail's body has a head, neck, visceral hump, tail and foot.  The head has a pair of tentacles or feelers. The larger set is located at the top of the head and contains the snail's eyes. The smaller set is located at the lower end of the head and the snail uses them to smell and feel.

• The snail's mouth is in the middle of its head and below the lower set of tentacles.

• The visceral hump that contains most of the snail's vital organs is actually located inside the snail's shell.

• The snails themselves are typically beige to gray.

• The shells can vary in colour from white to brown or black. They can also be speckled or striped in appearance.

• The shells can be rounded, flat, pointed or spiral.

• If the snail is disturbed, it can withdraw completely into its shell.

• As a part of the natural world, you can learn a lot of fun facts about snails by discovering some of their biology.

• Snails and slugs belong to a group of mollusks known as gastropods.

• Snails are also mollusks, which are a group of animals that have a hard shell. Other mollusks include clams, oysters and the octopus.

• Scientists have found snail fossils from millions of years ago. In fact, they are one of the oldest-known animal species in the world.

• While slugs and snails are both gastropods, they are not the same animal.

• Snails cannot hear. To find food, they use their sense of smell.

• Snails leave slime behind them as they travel. The slime protects them as they move.

• There is no way to tell whether a snail is a male or a female because they are both! Snails are hermaphrodites, which means they can lay eggs (female) and fertilise them too (male).

• Are snails nocturnal? Yes, you might be surprised to know that snails are largely nocturnal. They are most likely to come out at night or very early in the morning.

• Snails can live for 15 to 20 years, but that is probably good since it may take them that long to cross the yard.

• Do snails have a backbone? No. Snails are invertebrates, meaning that they don't have a backbone. Instead, they have their shell for protection.

• Snails are triploblastic protostomes. Their bodies are made up of three main parts: a foot, a head, and a body.

• Snails can live pretty much anywhere although they are not fond of heat. When the weather is hot, snails burrow under the ground and wait until it is cool.

• There are both land and water snails.

• Snails prefer damp, dark environments.

• Snails eat plants, algae, chalk, limestone, and, sometimes, each other.

• Snails eat by gliding across a food surface. They have what is known as a radula in their mouths, which grinds up their food. A radula is like a tiny tongue with a bunch of sharp teeth coating it.

• Birds, frogs, and other small animals eat snails. Some people also like to eat snails as well. Snails are a popular French delicacy known as escargot (pronounced ess-kar-GO). Don't eat raw snails though because they can make you sick.

• Snails hibernate in the winter.

• Snails can be found everywhere on earth.

• The snail's shell stays with it for life.

• There are more snails on earth than insects.

• The Romans raised snails for food.

• There are approximately 43 000 different snail species that live in the sea, in freshwater or on land.

• Land snails and garden snails (the best-known species in the world) have only one lung.

• Sea snails (who live in saltwater) and freshwater snails typically use gills to breathe. Some freshwater snails have both gills and a lung.

• Garden snails have over 14 000 teeth that are all located on their tongue (radula).

• The smallest land snail can fit through the eye of a needle.

• The largest living sea snail is the Syrinx aruanus whose shell can grow to 90cm in length and the snail can weigh up to 18kg.

• A snail will not get cut if it moves over a sharp razor blade because of its protective slimy mucus.

• Some snails have hairy shells.

• Most species of snails lay their eggs underground while a few do give birth to live young.

• Even if snails live in water, they can not swim. Snails can only crawl and the distance they travel ranges from 10m to 48m per hour. This explains why the snail is one of the slowest creatures on earth.

• The giant African land snail can grow up to 38cm long, weigh 0,9kg. It can often be found in Florida and is considered an invasive pest because it can cause much damage to plants and homes. It is also illegal to own as a pet.