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Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs to major rivers. The great majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few
A live individual of Meghimatium fruhstorferi in the wild. Philomycidae are a family of air-breathing land slugs (snails without shells or with only shell remnants). They are terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Arionoidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
Snails can be found in a very wide range of environments, including ditches, deserts, and the abyssal depths of the sea. Although land snails may be more familiar to laymen, marine snails constitute the majority of snail species, and have much greater diversity and a greater biomass. Numerous kinds of snail can also be found in fresh water.
The shells of sea snails are often found washed up on beaches. Because many are attractive and durable, they have been used to make necklaces and other jewelry since prehistoric times. The shells of a few species of large sea snails within the Vetigastropoda have a thick layer of nacre and have been used as a source of mother of pearl.
Later studies demonstrated that the species could survive in suspended animation without food or water for even longer. In 1904, 40 snails were placed in a tin box as part of an experiment. Approximately 8 years later, in 1912, 10 of these snails were found to be still alive.
Hikers inadvertently disrupt the leaf litter cover, and crush snails. Rock climbers, too, have killed snails and destroyed their habitat unknowingly. [13] Human activities such as logging, housing developments, and forest fires can all alter the environmental conditions that the flat-spired three-toothed snail needs to survive. [13]
Otala lactea, known as the milk snail or Spanish snail, is a large, edible [3] species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk, in the family Helicidae, the typical snails. [4] Archaeological recovery at the Ancient Roman site of Volubilis, in Morocco, illustrates prehistoric exploitation of O. lactea by humans. [5]
These snails feed on vegetation, fruit and vegetables, and also on the decaying flesh of already dead animals. [4] [7] In captivity the snails can feed on cucumber, lettuce, carrots, apple, and boiled eggs. [3] [4] [7] The snails can eat chalk for calcium, and commercially available rat food for protein. [4]