Snail Facts

Snails are known to be one of the earliest known types of animals evolved on the surface of the earth more than 600 million years ago. They belong to the phylum Mollusca of the kingdom Animelia and have the ability to adapt to a number of living conditions with very little food requirements. They are classified as mollusks due to their hard shells that protect their bodies from these variant environmental conditions that they have evolved from. Snails are found in every part of the world in oceans, on trees and on land. They are very slow moving creatures who can travel large distances of land and water for months together and live in tiny holes of mud or on leaves. These are just a few well-known snail facts, read on to know more such interesting ones coming up for your information.

Facts About Snails

Snails belong to the class Gastropoda which literally means 'belly foot animals', that crawl on their bellies. There are two kinds of snails viz, sea snails and land snails. They have some common traits as well as individual ones since they have a huge difference in their habitats. Take a look at some great snail facts which will definitely help you with your general knowledge about these slimy shell animals.

Common Facts

• All snails have a group name called Rout and they all belong to the phylum Mollusca as mentioned above and have a protective shell which is their home.
• They are 12 to 15 inches in length and 10 gms in width, considerably tiny animals who travel miles without food.
• They live for about 15 years and mature sexually in 2 years after birth.
• Their habitat comprises gardens, parks, forests, dunes and the bottoms of the sea and other water bodies.
• They diet includes living and decaying plants and leftovers found on the leaves and seaweeds.
• After maturity, their gestation period is 2 to 4 weeks and they lay about 85 eggs out of which very few survive and hatch into new snails.

Sea Snail Facts

• There is a difference in the shell sizes and shapes of the sea and land snails, as the sea snail shells are somewhat conical in shape and larger in size.
• There are a variety of types in sea snails as well with those living in tanks and other water bodies apart from the ocean. Top shells and periwinkles are some such examples.
• They creases on the shells of these snails defines their age most of the time and are formed due to the Calcium secretions by the body.
• The colors of these winkles are bright yellow which are flat shells and stripy purples which have a round shell tapering to the top.
• The sea snails graze on seaweed from the grass and off the rocks in the water, their personal favorites are the sea lettuce. Some of them even eat algae and other smaller mollusks.
• Sea snails are food for a number of predators like crabs, fish and starfish which after eaten them use their shells as homes (especially the hermit crab).

Garden or Land Snail Facts

• These snails are considered to be very strong and can lift up to 10 times their own body weight in the vertical position.
• Though they are the slowest animals in the world, the fastest in their species is the garden snail which can travel 55 yards per hour.
• Another type, the Giant African land snail can eat more than 500 different types of plants, otherwise their diets are simply leaves and berries off their habitats. They die if they consume sugar or salt.
• They grow in a spiral manner every year and their shells are called the whorl, which gives the exact age of the snail. Their shells are of various colors like yellow, pink, cream and purples.
• Another one of these interesting snail facts is that snails are hermaphrodites which means they have both male and female reproductive organs and they produce both eggs and sperms.
• Snails hibernate during winter and live on the stored fat and are eaten by chickens, geese, turtles and snakes.
• They love damp and dark environment and can't survive in scorching heat. If the heat is a lot they enter their shells and stay there for very long periods.
• Their tentacles or antennae are present to test for danger and sighs of food. They are sensory apparatus which they use for their protection as well as feeding habits.

With these intriguing snail facts, I hope you have all the knowledge about snails to flaunt in front of your friends at school!