Snails are very curious animals. We know very little about how they live, and how they act in nature. In general terms, the snail is a gastropod mollusk and includes a whole family that includes those of the terrestrial type as well as those of the sea and those of fresh water.
We are going to know some information about this type of mollusk and the curiosities that they have in their way of life.
Is hermaphrodite
It is one of the best known qualities of the snail. This mollusk has the ability to produce both sperm and eggs, so its reproduction occurs through mutual fertilization. Although it is known that there are certain types of snails that are not hermaphrodites like the apple type.
Copulation is carried out in spring and autumn, when the weather is warmer and there is more humidity. Normally, copulation occurs at night and can last up to 7 hours. Once the fertilization is finished, they plant the eggs – they can have up to 50 – in a hole so that they hatch after 15 days.
They eat crawling
These mollusks do not have a mouth or teeth and use their bodies for food. A snail as it crawls through food using snails they have in their mouths. This radula is full of small sharp teeth that serve so that the snail can eat. In addition, their smell is capable of taking them to foods with more calcium, necessary to maintain their shell.
Depending on the species, a snail can have a life expectancy of between 5 to 7 years, but for example, aquatic snails usually live for about a year. With all this, specimens have been recorded that have lived to live for more than 20 years.
Quiet
The snail is a patient mollusk, speed and haste does not go with them. They have to move their shell and the rest of their body little by little, and they move by crawling. The movement of a snail is produced by undulatory muscle contractions and its average speed is usually 1-2 centimeters per second.
For this reason, it is not easy for snails to travel long distances. If they wanted to travel a kilometer, at their average speed, it would take a week.
Surprising specimens
Only in North America we find more than 500 different species of snail, so it is not surprising that there are very different specimens. The normal thing is that the types that we see in Spain have a normal size, but for example if we move to Africa, we can find giant snails of up to 30 centimeters.
In Australia, for example, there is also a species of water snail that can measure up to 99 centimeters and weigh up to 18 kilos.
