The Snail Trail

Please follow me on a journey to discover some of the coolest and weirdest snails that live on this planet!

Records have shown that snails have been on Earth for over 3 billion years, so if you have not heard of a snail then where the shell have you been?! Not only this but there are over 40,000 different recorded species of snail on Earth, all adapted to live in different environments! Would you be surprised to know that some of these species are highly venomous? Then hold on to your seats as this is going to be a shelly ride!

So, before we delve into the crazy world of snails, I think we need to work out what makes a snail. So, a snail is one of two species of gastropods (the other being its shell-less cousin, the slug) that has a shell on its back. Each snail can fully retract into its shell to protect themselves from predators. All snails start off life in an egg and hatch out into a tiny snail that then grows with age. Their shell grows with them! shedding and growing layers as the snail grows.

Now let’s look at some cool and specially adapted snails:

1) Chrysomallon squamiferum, or the Volcano Snail (ICUN-Endangered)

Yes, you read it right, the volcano snail. So, this species of snail is a recent discovery. It was first discovered in 2001 and received its scientific name in 2015! Unsurprisingly this species is rare, living in the deep-sea hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. The waters in this area can reach 371°C. Their shell is made of very hard materials, such as iron sulphide and aragonite! But Beth, what do they look like? Well, they have a round metal and crystal-based shell, often black or darkly coloured. Their main body tends to be pink, however their most interesting feature is the skirt of iron scales that covers the bottom of their foot. Some scientists have nicknamed them the “pangolin of the seas” as their scales resemble those of a pangolin! I think they look more like snaily dragons!

You may be wondering what do these creatures eat? Unlike most species of British snails, these gastropods create their own food! They use chemicals from the vents they inhabit to feed bacteria growing in pouches in their throats which convert these chemicals into snail-safe nutrients! These bacteria create large amounts of sulphur which the snail must protect itself against with the use of its scaley foot!

2) Powelliphanta superba prouseorum

The next crazy and rare species of snail that we are going to look at is native to New Zealand and extraordinarily hard to find in the wild as they are one of New Zealand’s most threatened species of invertebrate. The Powelliphanta superba prouseorum is a 90-gram insectivorous snail that devours earthworms and slugs like spaghetti with their 6000 teeth! The shell length of this beast averages 9cm across, essentially making it the size of a fist! Along with this, the Powelliphanta snail is hermaphroditic and can lay 5-10 pearly pink shelled eggs which look like they should belong to a small bird. Not only this but, as far as we are aware, this species of snail is one of the most long lived! They can reach 25 years old! Unfortunately, this super cool species of snail is faced with the threat of habitat loss which has led to pockets of small populations of snails within New Zealand.

3) Conus geographus or the Geography Cone

Next, we have one of the deadliest genus’ of snails in the world! Cone snails are a marine snail that hunts fish. The deadliest of these snails is the conus geographus, more commonly known as the Geography Cone. They have been responsible for at least 141 human envenomation’s which have resulted in 36 fatalities! You may be wondering, why does this snail need such a potent venom and how do they use it? Well, cones snails’ main prey is fish, that means that the snail must quickly incapacitate and eat the fish before it swims away. Some species of cone snail have a venom covered harpoon which they shoot at their prey at 400 miles per hour! Other species like the Geography Cone creep up on sleeping fish and release a cloud of chemical to numb their prey and swallow them whole, later spitting out the indigestible bones.

4) The Giant African Land Snail

I couldn’t do a blog on snails without mentioning a species we keep here at Wingham, the Giant African land snail. There is one species of giant African land snails which contains three subspecies, Lissachatina fulica, achatina achatina and the archachatatine marginata. In the wild, they are nocturnal to prevent them from dehydrating, they will often spend their days inside their shells or in burrows. These snails are fairy long lived in both the wild and captivity, the average lifespans being 5-7 years, however they have been recorded to get as old as 10! As with many species of snail, they are omnivorous and require both vegetation and protein in their diet. These snails are a invasive species in areas of America, and can populate a area very quickly due to their ability to lay up to 500 eggs at a single laying. Luckily, in the UK, Giant African Land Snails cannot survive our colder temperatures, meaning that they are often kept as indoor pets but cannot survive the UK winter outside.

Now, please enjoy this video of our snail, Shellby enjoying some sweetcorn before being attacked by a leaf!