Facts About Snail

Snails are very slow moving creatures and also amongst the earliest known types of animals in the world. They make up one of the 200,000 species of mollusks discovered till date. A snail has a soft body that is long and slimy and is protected by the shell sitting on its back. The body is pale grey in color and moist, while the shell is light brown with darker brown bands, following the spiral of the shell. There are three different kinds of snails, namely, sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. Snails are common to sight and widely spread throughout Britain and Europe. Read on further to know some more interesting facts and amazing information on snails.

Facts About Snail

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

Order: Stylommatophora

Family: Stylommatophora

Group Name: Rout

Length: 12-15 inches

Weight: 10 grams

Lifespan: 15 years

Diet: Living and decaying plants.

Habitat: Gardens, parks, forests and dunes.

Age of Sexual Maturity: 2 years

Gestation Period: 2-4 weeks

Number of Offspring: 85 eggs

Interesting & Amazing Information On Snails

Snails are known to be very strong and thus, can lift up to 10 times their own body weight, in a vertical position.
The largest land snail was recorded in 1976. It weighed 2 pounds and was 15 inches long.
Currently, the largest land snail is the Ghana tiger snail, which can grow up to 12 inches.
The fastest snail species is the garden snail that can move up to 55 yards per hour.
The Giant African land snail is said to eat more than 500 different types of plants.
The largest of all snails is the Syrinx Aruanus, an Australian marine type. It grows up to 30 inches and can weigh 40 lbs.
Snails are herbivores and feed on living plants, decaying plants, fruits, algae, fungi, lichens and young succulent plant barks.
They can easily slide over a razor blade without being hurt. However, they die if they consume either salt or sugar.
A snail grows a new spiral every year and it looks like a ring, called whorl.
The land snails are found in various different kinds of colored shells. An apple snail has a yellow shell, while the African land snail has different bands of brown, pink and cream.
The bottom of a snail’s body is called foot and it helps the animal to move. The foot contains a gland that makes slime, a sticky substance that helps the snail move along.
A land snail has two pairs of tentacles on its head and the longest pair carries its eyes, one eye on each tentacle. They are called eye stalks. The second pair of tentacles is used for smelling and feeling.
Snails are hermaphrodites, which means that they have both male and female reproductive organs. Thus, they can produce both eggs and sperms, but they require another snail to reproduce baby snails.
The baby snails that hatch from small pea-sized eggs have tiny shells on their backs and their bodies are almost see through.
Snails hibernate during winter season and live on their stored fat.
Beetles, chickens, ducks, geese, birds, toads, turtles and snakes are the predators of snails.

How to Cite

Related Articles

See also

More in 'Society'