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Tag Archives: British snails

Tricksy snails

19 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by sconzani in molluscs

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Tags

British snails, land snail, snail, spiral snail

Snails are much more difficult to identify than you might imagine, especially when you don’t – as I didn’t – examine all the relevant parts of the shell that help with identification. The opening of the shell, for example, often holds key features. In this particular case, I was happy just to watch this tiny creature going about its daily life.

220119 snail

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333/366 Striped snail

28 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by sconzani in molluscs

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Banded snail, British molluscs, British snails, Cernuella virgata, snails, Striped snail

And now for something completely different….

201128 striped snail (1)

I don’t often look at molluscs but these banded beauties caught my eye when I was walking across the Cardiff Bay Barrage earlier this week. I’m fairly sure they’re Cernuella virgata, Striped or Banded snails.

201128 striped snail (3)
201128 striped snail (4)

The presence of dark-on-light spiralling bands on their shells is one defining feature, as is their semi-spherical, rather than flat, shape, and the small open umbilicus. And they’re usually found on coastal sites, particularly in calcareous grassland, which fits the Barrage location.

201128 striped snail (2)

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191/366 Snail sex

09 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in molluscs, nature

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British snails, snail love dart, snail reproduction, snail sex, snails

I’ve noticed snails cwtched up together many times in the past but I’d never observed the nitty gritty of what they were actually doing until I saw this pair. Because they’d pulled slightly apart, it was possible to see their ‘apparatus’ in action.

200709 mating snails (1)

And what about the tiny white spike on the snail at left? Is that one of the love darts that snails stab their mates with? I don’t know enough about snails to be sure but, for more on this point, you can read about the sharp end of snail sex on the National Geographic website here.

200709 mating snails (2)

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William and Peggy

04 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by sconzani in molluscs, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British snails, molluscs, Penarth Cemetery, snail, snail identification

Finally, two snails that realise how much I struggle to put a name to them, and so make it easy for me. Meet William and Peggy!

170404 Snail called William170404 Snail called Peggy

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At a snail’s pace

26 Sunday Mar 2017

Posted by sconzani in molluscs, nature

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Aegopinella nitidula, British snails, Clear glass snail, Discus rotundatus, Discus snail, Kentish snail, Monacha cantiana, Rounded snail, Smotth glass snail, snails, Waxy glass snail

I had no intention of sliding down the slippery slope of snail identification but I’ve found a few in recent weeks and couldn’t not try to ID them. And then a friend, who has given up on that ‘too hard’ process, gifted me his guide book. Luckily, there is also a good ‘Slugs and Snails of the British Isles’ group of very helpful folks on Facebook, though you do have to know which bits of the snail to photograph for them to be able to help. So, these little snails are hopefully correctly identified as follows:

170326 snail Aegopinella nitidula

Smooth glass snail (Aegopinella nitidula)
Also known as the Clear glass snail or Waxy glass snail, this little land mollusc can be found munching away on plant matter all year round in gardens and hedgerows, rough grassland, waste ground and woodlands throughout much of Britain. It only grows to around 10mm so is quite little.

170326 snail Discus rotundatus

Rounded snail (Discus rotundatus)
At between 5 and 7mm across, the Rounded or Discus snail (I think that second name suits it very well) is also rather small. Its shell is quite flat but tightly coiled, with up to 6 whorls, and its upper surface is densely ribbed. It’s another very common snail (I obviously haven’t been looking very hard as this was my first sighting) and is especially partial to sheltered damp spots under logs, amongst leaf litter, beneath stones and rubble. Apparently it feeds on detritus (I’m never quite sure what that means!) and fungi.

170326 snail Monacha cantiana (2)
170326 snail Monacha cantiana (1)

Kentish snail (Monacha cantiana)
It may be named the Kentish snail but this is actually an introduced species. According to the German website Animal Base, it was ‘introduced to Great Britain with farmers in late Roman times and spread mainly in the mediaeval period, occupying a compact area covering S and E England, and still continues spreading (isolated sites in Wales, W central England and Scotland)’. The slight hairiness of my little friend (see photo above right) is because it’s a juvenile – those hairs will rub off as it grows to its full size of around 16mm.

170326 snail Monacha cantiana (3)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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