Gastropods - Tumblr Posts

Day 9 of posting cute creatures we found on the field trip:

This big boy is Roman snail (Helix pomatia) one of the largest snails in Europe (but not the largest, you will see that one in a few days ;)). Roman snails have been cultivated for centuries as food source and they were also collected heavily from the wild which made their populations dwindle in some areas. Today they are a protected species and cannot be collected from the wild commercially even though they have the Least concern label on IUCN. However, they can be bred on snail farms still and in many countries they can be held as pets. I had them as pets when I was a kid and boy are they adorable. They make cute ASMR noise when they eat and they are big enough for you to pet them and they like pets and when you rub their shell with a toothbrush. I’m not here to talk about their care, but if you’re interested, I will provide.

Roman snails can live well over 20 years, the oldest one died at the age of 35! In the wild they average around 10 years. They also grow slowly and need around 2-5 years to reach sexual maturity. That’s why collecting them commercially can destroy their populations and it does not help that their babies like to cannibalize their siblings. But they are hermaphrodites so they can mate with anyone they meet. They sometimes even try to mate with snails of other species but hybridization is rare.

Day 16 of posting cute creatures that we found on our field trip:

Leopard slug (Limax maximus) is one of the largest slugs in Europe. It is considered a pest especially in gardens where it loves to munch on various plants. No two slugs have the same pattern and that’s also true for leopards!

Day 26 of posting cute creatures we found on our field trip:

Ash slug (Limax cinereoniger) is the largest slug in Europe and, according to the Guinness book of records, the longest terrestrial slug in the world. Despite its formidable size of up to 30cm (!) this slug is not a pest. It lives only in ancient forests, far away from human settlements and feeds on lichen, moss and fungi. The colors of ash slug vary from this light grey to black, but it always has light colored keel on its back.

The internet has nicknamed this slug “glubby” because if you pick it up it curls up in its defensive pose and produces sticky mucus which makes it look very… well, glubby:

Day 30 of posting cute creatures we found on our field trip:

Turkish snail (Helix lucorum) is a quite common species in Balkans, but we aren’t certain whether it’s native or not. It probably came here from Turkey with the Ottomans and made itself very comfortable.

This is a very friendly snail. My professor likes to call it “chocolate snail” because of its brown coloration. As all Helix species, it’s very voracious, so it can be a pest in some areas, but it’s also edible. Some people have this snail as a pet that is very easy to keep and can live for over 20 years!

Day 33 of posting cute creatures we found on our field trip:

Bush snail (Fruticicola fruticum) is the only member of Camaenidae family that lives in Europe. All the other snails in this family live in South east Asia and Australia which makes this stranded baby very unique. Bush snail is incredibly unique because it’s so well adjusted to cold climates: it can be found even in Scandinavia! The scientific name of this snail literally means “fruity little fruit” because the colors of its shell change from green, to yellow, to orange, to brown, just as if it were a little fruit ripening. We found lots of them, here are the prettiest:

And there was one brownish bush snail that thought that my hand was very delicious so it started biting me:

Look at this vicious hungry beast.

It rained today, so it’s time to spam you with snail pics :D

I’m sorry I just love snails so much :3

These are most common European species: Helix pommatia, Cepaea nemoralis, Cepaea helvetica, Carpatotrochus vindobonensis and Helicella sp.

Day 41 of posting cute creatures we found on our field trip:

Monacha cartusiana is a small snail typically found in Mediterranean. It has very variable colors and patterns of the shell. The way to recognize it is by looking near the shell opening, where it has a reddish brown outline and usually a lighter outline above it. The rest of the shell usually looks like an abstract painting:

Some M. cartusiana snails have a very pale shell, with almost no blotches:

One of those pooped on me, but it was a cutie so who cares:

These snails are invasive in the US, so being able to identify them is a useful skill.

Day 48 of posting cute creatures we found on our field trip:

Today’s creature is so rare and understudied that it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia article:

Meet Dinarica pouzolzii the rarest terrestrial snail in Europe. It’s native only to western Balkans and only in regions where soil is very rich in calcium. It likes to hang out near caves. And that’s all we know about it.

But we found this one a friend!

And the second we put them on the ground…

They began kissing!

This is how snails start their mating ritual. We accidentally found snailmates (snail soulmates) of the rarest snail species in the region. Imagine the joy!

Day 50 of posting cute creatures we found on our field trip:

Helix vladika is the largest European terrestrial snail. This snail lives only in a small region between Serbia, Montenegro and Albania. The populations are stable in Serbia and Montenegro and vulnerable in Albania, but that’s mostly likely because of the very small region they inhabit.

This snail looks like giant Roman snail except for the dark coloration of its body. However it is a distinct species and cannot hybridize with common Roman snail (Helix pommatia).

These snails are very friendly and playful, but they also like to bite. This one we caught was a total sweetheart. He looks very old. He might be in his twenties as far as we know.

Vladika is a title that Montenegrin rulers used to have until mid twentieth century. It’s a title only below king. The snail was named as such because it’s native to Montenegro and its imposing size makes it “the vladika of snails”. It is protected by law, which helped the populations growth tremendously, since they were often collected for food. They reproduce very slowly and need up to three years to reach sexual maturity, so overcollecting is devastating for their populations.

Моменты из жизни улиток в зарослях мяты на берегу реки. Вечер сентября 24. Moments from the life of snails in mint thickets on the river bank. Evening of September 24.

IT'S A FUCKIGN SNAAAAIIIILLL

Made in Blender 4.1; modelled, sculpted, rigged, etc. by me (with help from tutorials & the blender community discord); hopefully 3d printed as a D&D mini soon.

This is ✨Biggens✨, he is...silly

And continues to fall off the roof of the tank and hit the only slightly hard area, which was a rock mostly covered in moss. He fell on it, hit it, was down for a few days, got back up, I fed him a bunch, all good.

Then he did it again...but this time, he was in an eggshell...and fell

I believe he's ok, here's a pic of him devouring a banana with eggshells on it.

However I wanted some other snail lovers opinions because his shell gets whiter and whiter.

It was already white when I got him (a friend of mine found him in my yard and handed him to me) but I've removed the rock and re adjusted the big egg so if he falls he's at least on dirt.

He's definitely healing tho, since he's been moving around the tank a lot more! Still worried for him tho

:(

(he's Abt the size of my thumb, he is smol...but biggen)

Pic from when I first got him

Tribute. Drawn for someone

bug haters will be like "thanks i hate it" and then show you a picture of the cutest animal you've ever seen

Green Shell Semi-Slug: the researchers who discovered this species originally wanted to name it "Ibycus felis," because it often rests with its tail curled around its body, which reminded them of a sleeping cat

The Latin name of this species is Ibycus rachelae, but it's also known as a green-shelled or long-tailed semi-slug. The species was first described in 2008, and it is found only in the montane forests of Sabah (Borneo) and Peninsular Malaysia.

The term "semi-slug" refers to an intermediate stage of evolution as a snail evolves into a slug. These snails still have shells that are at least partially visible, but they have been reduced to the point where the shell can no longer accommodate the snail's whole body. There are many different species of semi-slug, but most of them have a noticeably reduced, receding, and/or transparent shell that is partially concealed beneath the mantle.

This article describes another peculiar characteristic of semi-slugs (including Ibycus rachelae):

... semi-slugs don’t just look weird, they act weird, too. They employ sharp projectiles called love darts in their courtship rituals, by shooting several of them at a prospective mate. The mate, in turn, shoots several love darts right back.

Researchers have found that if semi-slugs are able to lodge love darts into one another, the subsequent copulation tends to be much more successful. It’s thought that the mucus distributed by the love dart ensures greater survivability of the sperm

This is what the "love darts" look like (when magnified under SEM):

The tiny, harpoon-like structures are made of calcium carbonate, and they transmit certain hormones (via mucus) that help to increase the likelihood of reproductive success. Semi-slugs are not the only gastropods that use "love darts," however; they are also used by some other land snails and slugs.

Sources & More Info:

World Wildlife Fund: Borneo's New World (PDF)

Basteria (Journal): The Slugs and Semislugs of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (PDF)

Forest Research Institute Malaysia: Introduction to the Land Snails and Slugs of Malaysia (PDF)

Malay Peninsular Terrestrial Molluscs: Ibycus rachelae

Live Science: World's Longest Bug and 'Ninja' Slug Discovered in Borneo

Australian Geographic: Meet the Semi-Slug, a Snail without a Home

Can we start liking snails the same way we loved frogs and mushrooms in 2021 that'd be neat I think, thanks.

A reminder from your friendly neighborhood snail:

Don't pick up snails by the shell! Picking them up by the shell may cause uneven pressure throughout their body and cause mantle collapse (a very slow and painful fate). Instead, try to lure them onto something or allow them to crawl onto you. You could also try and scoop under them by poking their face and putting your finger beneath their lil body.

Naked Sea Angels (Clione limacina) are small, free swimming snails. The shell has been lost and the foot has been modified into wing-like paddles for swimming.

(source)