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Snails & Slugs

Gastropoda

Snails and slugs are gastropod mollusks (class Gastropoda). “Snail” usually means a gastropod with a large external shell (often coiled) that the animal can withdraw into, while “slug” generally refers to a gastropod (often a land form) whose shell is reduced to an internal plate/granules or is absent. Both move using a broad muscular foot, gliding via waves of contraction and typically aided by mucus. Most feed using a radula (a ribbon-like structure bearing many tiny “teeth”) that scrapes or rasps food. They live in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats; many land species are tied to moist environments because of dehydration risk.

Snails and slugs are gastropod mollusks (class Gastropoda). “Snail” usually means a gastropod with a large external shell (often coiled) that the animal can withdraw into, while “slug” generally refers to a gastropod (often a land form) whose shell is reduced to an internal plate/granules or is absent. Both move using a broad muscular foot, gliding via waves of contraction and typically aided by mucus. Most feed using a radula (a ribbon-like structure bearing many tiny “teeth”) that scrapes or rasps food. They live in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats; many land species are tied to moist environments because of dehydration risk.