Snail is an animal that is believed to have originated in the East African region and then spread to various countries through trading activities in the past. According to report, Snails are becoming increasingly popular in the United State. But what type of animal are snails?
Snails are gastropod molluscs that live in fresh water and prefer sheltered places with little current, such as streams, creeks, ditches and dams.
To protect themselves from the outside elements, these animals have evolved a spiral shell, serving as a large home they can hide in when a threat appears. Snails are also called animals from the mollusk group.
Molluscs are the second largest phylum after the animal kingdom Arthropoda and consist of many species with very high diversity. No one knows the number of identified species from the phylum molluscs that are alive today but is estimated to be around 100,000 and those in the form of fossils are estimated to be around 50,000 species (Oliver, 2004).
These animals can be found in almost all areas of the earth’s surface, from the highlands, mountains, land, rivers, lakes and at sea.
Phylum molluscs consist of 7 classes which are divided based on their morphological and anatomical forms, namely Aplacopora, Monoplacopora, Polyplacopora, Scapopoda, Bivalvia, Gastropods and Cephalopods.
According to reports, snails are referred to as animals that can cause disease in humans because they contain parasites in their bodies.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the United States strictly prohibits its citizens from keeping and consuming these shelled animals.
Want to know more about What Type Of Animal Is Snail? Then keep reading to find out.
Read: What Are The Health Benefits Of Oysters, Is Oysters Good For You?
What Are Snails Classified Under
The snail is one of the animals from the mollusk group. These slimy animals are generally found in paddy fields and rocks with humid conditions.
Snails are similar to slugs, so it is difficult for some people to differentiate them.
Even though the three of them have differences both in terms of physical and behavior, for example, snails have shells and live on land.
To determine what type of animal Snails are, we have to determine their classification, which is Gastropoda.
| kingdom | Animalia |
| phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Gastropods |
| Order | Sytromatophora |
| Family | Achatinidae |
| genus | Achatina |
| Species | Achatina fulica |
Characteristics and Morphology
As already mentioned, snails gastropod molluscs that live in humid areas. This animal is different from other groups of gastropods, because it has a respiratory system using a thin pillium equipped with capillaries. While other gastropods use ctenidia or a kind of gills.
Not only that, the difference between snails and other gastropods is the presence of a nervosium system in their body. Snails have ganglia that gather together and form a ring-like passage around the esophagus. These ganglia have no connective tissue.
Snails are a group of molluscs that have the largest body size among the others. The body morphology of the snail can also be divided into two parts, namely the shell structure and the soft body.
In general, the body weight of snails ranges from 150 to 200 grams and their body length ranges from 90 to 130 mm.
Is A Snail An Insect
No! It has no external skeleton. All land snails are classified under gastropod mollusks, meaning they belong to the same group of octopuses that are part of the phylum Mollusca.
As a matter of fact, the Mollusca phylum differs from insects in that they belong entirely to a separate species, while the Arthropoda phylum includes insects.
This means that they are more closely linked to octopus than to most other bugs found on the surface of the planet.
Snails and slugs are members of the Phylum Mollusca, and they’re more closely associated with squid than with other animals, which is the type of animal snails are.
In terms of their biological makeup Mollusks are a big and varied collection of creatures with a wide range of distribution across the planet, But snails are not Mollusks
Soft-bodied species including octopuses, oysters, and clams are considered one of the most varied in the animal realm.
What’s inside a snail?
The soft body inside the shell (univalve) is also spiral-shaped and it is inside that the heart and liver of the snail are found. To help them move, snails secrete a watery substance, mucus, from a gland located on the front of their foot.
What does the snail like?
Feeding snails. Snails are herbivores and feed only on plants. The foods that snails eat range from leaves and decaying plants that they find in their path, to vegetables, fruits and algae .
How are snails born?
Snails gestate their eggs for two to three weeks. After that time, they look for an area of soft earth where they dig a hole; there will be the nest where they will house their fertilized eggs. The number of eggs can reach 80, and there will be at least 50 pieces, about 2.5 millimeters in diameter.
Is Snail A Water Animal
Most of the snail species are marine animals. According to reports, some snails also live on land. Infact, some species that live on land and sea can be omnivores or predatory carnivores. However, most snails are herbivores.
Generally, snail is a type of land animal that has a habit of living in damp places and is nocturnal. Animals that belong to the Gastropod class are spread in the sea, fresh water and moist land.
Does A Snail Lay Eggs
Snails reproduce by laying eggs (ovipar). After 2-4 weeks, the snail eggs will hatch. Even though they are both male and female, snails cannot mate on their own because sperm cannot ripen into the egg (ovum) at the same time. In the process of reproduction, snails emit odors to attract partners.
Where do snails lay eggs?
Snails usually lay their eggs in the ground, then bury them 1-1.5 inches deep to keep the eggs safe. Two to four weeks later, the eggs are ready to hatch.
Read: 15 Health Benefits of Snail in Our Diets
Is A Snail A Slug
Both snails and slugs are gastropod mollusks; meaning they live on land, unlike most gastropods.
What distinguishes slugs from snails are the presence of a sizeable calcified exterior shell on the back of snails.
Infact, the only significant morphological difference between the slug and the snail is snail’s conspicuous shell.
The shell is big enough for the snail to retract entirely for safety. On the other hand some snails can also close off their shell once fully retracted.
But slugs don’t have the amenity of a mobile home for safety. Apart from that, many slugs have a vestigial inner shell that stores calcium.
In addition, their soft tissues are exposed to desiccation because they don’t have a shell to preserve them.
Apart from this outstanding exterior feature, snails and slugs share several characteristics, including eyespots at the ends of slender tentacles, downward-directed mouths, and single, broad, muscular, flat-bottom feet lubricated by mucus and covered by epithelial cilia.
