slugs

& Snails

by Ginny (P7)
18/05/2011
 What are they ?

• Snails and slugs belong to the animal group - molluscs.

• This group includes squids & octopus (and all the aquatic bivalves,
i.e. cockles & mussels), as well as snails & slugs.

• Molluscs are soft-bodied animals, without internal skeletons, but the

majority of them have some sort of shell which both supports and
protects the body.

• Snails and slugs belong to a sub-group called the gastropods (within

the group of molluscs.)

• Gastropod means 'belly feet' and refers to the way the animals creep
about on their bellies.

• Slugs have descended from various groups of snails through the

reduction or complete loss of the shell.
 Snails
• Snails have soft, un-segmented
bodies which are protected by a
hard shell.

• The scientific name for

the garden snail is Helix aspersa.

• When a snail is disturbed,

retreats into its shell.

• It also retreats into its shell &

seals the entrance, in dry
weather, to protect its body from
drying up.

• A snail is most active at night &

cloudy days. It does not like the
sunshine very much.

• During very cold weather or

winter, snails hibernate in the
ground.

Source:http://qspace.library.queensu.ca/html/1974/136/images/snail01.gif http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/
 snails (on the outside )
eye

shell

feeler

mouth

Breathing hole

Muscular foot
Source: http://cnx.org/content/m19897/latest/snail.png
 snails (on the inside)

Source: http://www.gireaud.net/images/snail_biology.jpg
 Snails 2

• The eye of a snail is on the tip of the

tentacle, a snail has two pairs of tentacles
on its head.

• One pair is longer than the other pair, the

eyes are on the longer pair.

• The shorter pair of tentacles is used for

smelling and feeling its way around.

• A snail moves by creeping on a flat foot

underneath the body.

• The band of muscles in the foot contract

and expand and this create a kind of
rippling movement that pushes the snail
forward.

Source: http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/
 Snails 4

A snail is even able to move on very sharp pointed needles, knife, razors and
vines without being injured because the slime helps to protect its body.

Source: http://www.odivinorum.com/11-strength.html
 snailS eat…
• Snails have a radula for grinding
up food.

• A radula is like a rough tongue /

file with rows of tiny teeth that it
uses to consume leaves and
flowers.

• Snails can cause serious damage

to crops.

• They eat living plants as well as

decaying plants. They also chew
on fruits & young juicy plant
barks.

• The pond snail feeds mainly on

plants like algae and microscopic
creatures that are found on the
surface of water weeds.
Source: http://www.pirx.com/gallery/albums/mollusks/radula.jpg http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/
 Eggs to Babies
• Snails are hermaphrodites (both male &
female).

• Snails take approx. 2 years to become

adults.

• After mating, each snail will search for

soft ground to lay its eggs.

• Snails lay their eggs in a nest in the soil.

(2.5cm - 4cm’s in size).

• Snails can lay an average of 85 eggs &

they hatch in 2 to 4 weeks, depending on
the temperature and moisture of the soil.

• Snails are most active in the months from

February - October.

• The first thing a newly hatched snail does

is find food. They will eat what is left of
their eggshell & will also eat any eggs
that have not hatched yet.

Source: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/2894307647_826cbff41a.jpg http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/ http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/

 Pond Snails
• Some pond snails have gills to
breathe in water.

• Those with gills will live at the

bottom of the pond.

• Those that do not have gills, will

come up to the surface to breathe.

• These snails will live on the

surface so that they can come up
to breathe easily.
Source http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/
 Snails

• Some snails are edible you can buy

pond snails from a fish monger in
the city.

• The flesh of the snail is supposedly

very delicious.

Source http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/ , http://www.kidsrecipe.co/category/whats-groser-than-gross/

why would people eat snails?

Probably in years of war / famine people were forced to eat things they would
not usually eat, due to lack of food.

People in the countryside were so poor / hungry that they probably decided to
eat snails .

Popularity over the centuries has varied but people kept on eating them because
they are quite tasty if prepared well i.e. with garlic and butter.

According to the ‘Larousse Gastronomique’, snails have been popular since

Roman times. They were also included in a famous 14c. cookbook. the
‘Menagier de Paris’,

The most common kind of snail eaten, apparently used to be one’s on vines and
they would have been readily available in wine country.

There lot of countries where snails are a traditional meal e.g. France (Escargot),
some regions in Spain, Italy, Greece, England, Asia (they put snails in the soup),
Africa (there are giant snails).

Source http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/ http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_the_french_eat_snails

 A super,
• One of the largest species of
land snail is the Giant African
Snail which can grow to be
38 cm from snout to tail, and
weigh 1 kg. big guy

Source:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_8DfUOJtGfL8/S9_PdTC1CnI/AAAAAAAAEDc/hPu5vfD7YCE/s1600/giant-african-snail-1.jpg http://www.papuaweb.org/gb/foto/muller/ecology/09/05.jpg
• Most slugs prefer to
Slugs
eat decaying plant
matter. Slugs don’t
actually do much
damage.
A Baby Slug

• Slugs have also lost

their visceral humps
(the part of the snail
which is inside the
shell).
Image + Text source: http://www.jaxshells.org/aba.jpg http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11a.htm
 Slugs
(from The outside )

Optic
tentacles
keel (eyes at tips)
trunk Pneumostome
mantle
(Respiratory pore)

head

Mouth Sensory
FOOT (Radula) tenacles
SKIRT Anus Genital Pedal
(Under Opening Slime
the guard
mantle)
 Slugs
(From The Inside)

Salivary
Stomach
gland

Buccal
Mass

Anus
Rectum

Source;http://snailstales.blogspot.com/2006/04/tiny-slugs-last-meal.html
 Slugs

• Water is quickly lost from the slug's soft, moist

and unprotected body so it has to live in damp
places in the soil and among debris.

• It emerges only at night or on wet days. A

slug's organs of smell are in its tentacles and
enable it to detect food several feet away.

• With no portable home into which they can

withdraw, the slugs are more susceptible to
drought and to enemies than the snails,
although they protect themselves to some
extent with various kinds of mucus.
Source: http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11a(5).htm http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01627/slug_1627430c.jpg
 Slugs
• Many species are active all through the year
as long as the weather remains kind.

• During very dry/cold weather they tunnel deep down into the soil.

• Some slugs live most of their lives in the soil, but most of them are
surface feeders & they come out to feed at night or when the air is damp
after rain.

• Slugs dislike rain falling on them, but often emerge in their thousands as
soon as it stops.

• If you look closely at a keeled slug you can often see lots of tiny animals
running all over their bodies.

• These tiny animals are mites and you will see them on the keeled slugs.

• The slugs don’t mind their tiny mites and don't even cough when these
passengers scuttle in and out of their breathing pores.

• Although slugs have descended from snails, they have not all descended
from one group of snails i.e they are not all closely related.
Source: http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11a(5).htm http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01627/slug_1627430c.jpg
 Slugs
British slugs belong to 3 distinct groups:

• shelled slugs,

• keeled slugs

• round backed slugs.

There are approx. 24 British species of slugs.

Half of these turn up in the garden over time.

Source: http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11a(5).htm http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01627/slug_1627430c.jpg

 Thanks
for watching

Background image source: http://wallpaper-s.org/11__Raindrops_on_a_Leaf.htm