### animal | mollusc | gastropod:

Snail
* All snails are classified as mollusks because of the hard shell that protects their bodies
  - male until they mate, which is when something pretty strange happens
  - grow better and have stronger shells when there lot of calcium in the soil
* Many snails are herbivores as they rely on plants and algae for their daily consumption
  - used as food, particularly abroad
  - can withdraw into the shell and close it off with a lid called an operculum
  - have an operculum, a plate that closes the gastropod's opening
  - inflicted with love darts suffer open wounds and sometimes death
  - live in the littoral zone
* Most snails adapt to habitats.
* Most snails appear in gardens
* Most snails are herbivores and feed on plant parts
  - herbivores, but some are omnivores
  - known as snails
  - located in environments
* Most snails are located on ground
  - omnivores, while others are herbivores or even carnivores
  - bear one or two pairs of tentacles on their heads
  - belong to genus
* Most snails depend on food
  - destroy plants
  - develop ability
* Most snails eat fish food
  - grass
  - large meals
  - living and decaying plants, but some are scavengers and some are predators
  - vegetables
  - enjoy having plants in the tank to graze on
  - enter water
  - excrete urea
* Most snails feed on decay matter
  - plant matter
  - organic matter
  - rotting vegetation, and leftover food
  - get size
  - give birth to snails
* Most snails grow shells
  - to cms
* Most snails has-part glands
  - organs
* Most snails have bacteria
  - basic structures
  - chambers
  - characteristics
  - diverse patterns
* Most snails have female organs
  - fragile shells
  - gas exchange structures
  - holes
  - mechanisms
  - reproduction
  - second stage larvae
  - several characteristics
  - spiky shells
* Most snails have spiral shells on their backs into which they can pull back for protection
  - thin shells
  - hide in shells
* Most snails inhabit coral reef zones
  - tidal zones
  - kill prey
* Most snails lay eggs but some, like the trapdoor snail, give live birth
  - live off plants and dead organic matter, although a few are carnivorous
* Most snails make discharge
  - possess blood
  - pull in their food by scraping or rasping algal film off the substrate
* Most snails reach adult size
  - reproductive maturity
  - relate to snails
* Most snails require diets
  - show significant variation
  - survive adverse conditions
* Most snails survive for months
  - several months
  - weeks
  - harsh conditions
* Most snails survive in different habitats
  - winter
* Most snails thrive in environments
* Some snails appear to have ridges on their shells.
* Some snails are aquatic, and live in water
  - capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction
  - even parthenogenetic, that is, their eggs develop without fertilization
  - herbivores, eating almost exclusively plants
  - hermaphroditic and engage in cross fertilization
  - inside eggs
  - killed by crabs
* Some snails are killed by red crabs
  - rock crabs
* Some snails are located in bays
  - rivers
  - swamp
* Some snails are located on beaches
  - flowers
  - notorious for finding ways to escape from their tanks
* Some snails avoid predators
  - salt
  - become slugs
* Some snails belong to diverse families
  - build shells
* Some snails can have babies
  - effects
  - pull over three times their own body-weight
* Some snails carry organisms
  - parasites
* Some snails depend on gardens
  - dig shallow holes
* Some snails eat algae
  - dirt
  - dungs
  - garden snails
  - herbivorous snails
  - meat
  - emerge from water
  - end up floating to the surface simply because air bubbles get trapped in their shells
* Some snails engage in cross fertilization
* Some snails enter environments
  - even live on land
* Some snails excrete acid
  - urine
  - exhibit sexual reproduction
  - fall into rivers
* Some snails feed on algas
  - bark
  - bivalves
  - marsh grass
* Some snails float in ponds
  - has-part stomachs
* Some snails have a solid plug to close the shell opening after the animal retreats inside
  - aperture
  - brains
  - cavities
  - corneas
  - density
  - flaps of skin which partially or fully enclose the shell
  - fronts
  - genetic defects
  - grey skin
  - immense appetite
  - life
  - lungs
  - mantle cavities
  - moist skin
  - molluscs
  - pale skin
  - ranges
  - teeth
  - very pretty shells
  - wide aperture
  - hibernate during winter
* Some snails inhabit arid regions
  - live for years
* Some snails live in Kansas
  - cliffs
  - deserts
  - floors
  - oceans
  - saltwaters
  - tops
  - trees
  - vary habitats
* Some snails live on beaches
  - land and some live in water
  - lose appetite
  - migrate to water
  - obtain food by using their radula to drill holes in the shells of other mollusks
  - occupy ranges
  - only come out at night
  - possess mantle lobes
  - prefer darkness
* Some snails produce borings or drill holes into other molluscs, such as clams
  - fluid
  - secretion
* Some snails provide food
  - pump blood
  - receive food
  - rely on diets
* Some snails require cells
  - other food sources, such as fish food or bottom feeder tablets
* Some snails serve as food
  - proteins
  - survive predation
* Some snails thrive in bays
  - withdraw into their shells, which owners frequently mistake as a sign of death
* also have a mantle that covers the internal organ that is called a foot
  - possess good medicinal value with regard to certain gastric ailments
  - to have found equal favour with the ancients
* are a delicacy in French cuisine , where they are called escargots
  - great source of calcium, but hard to find in the right size
  - popular dietary item for urban opossums
  - vector for liver flukes
* are able to breathe through their skin as well
  - survive intact after being eaten by birds, according to scientists
  - all healthy and moving around, and the plants are thriving
* are also a high-preference food
  - fond of the occasional drop of beer
  - important to the health of a garden pond, as they consume excess organic matter
* are an intermediate host for some of the parasites
  - to the flukes
  - animals
  - annelids
  - another destructive pest, particularly during the later stage of growth
  - at the bottom of the food chain
  - attracted to the carbohydrates and yeast in beer, and crawl into the trap and drown
  - decomposers, an important part of the food cycle
  - dormant in summer and their activity is triggered by rain in autumn
* are eaten as food in some parts of the world
  - most often in European countries
  - especially important when drought or hard weather makes it difficult to find other food
  - extremely important in the turn over of the organic material
  - found all over the world
* are found in almost any environment
  - freshwater, marine, and terrestrial environments
  - gastropods with a coiled shell large enough for the animal can retract inside it
  - herbivorous which is why most of their diet comprises plants and vegetation
  - hermaphrodites but they have to mate before laying some days later
  - infested by several species of trematode worms which consume gonads of males
  - invertebrates , which are animals with no backbones
* are located in environments
  - mollusks - as are their cousins the slugs
  - more abundant near limestome, and in more arid climates
* are most active at night and after rainfall
  - or on cloudy, high humidity days
  - likely to be found in the leaf litter under the tree
  - mostly intestine, except for the meaty foot
  - needed in the fluke life cycle
  - omnivores, but eat mostly small plants and minerals from rocks
* are one of the earliest known types of animals in the world
  - easiest of the exotic pets to keep
  - popular pets, and are a commonplace addition to salt-water aquariums
  - rapid reproducers, breeding as often as once a month
  - shellfish
  - slimy and soft bodied with slimy spiral shells about one inch long
  - so diverse that there are land snails, sea snails and freshwater snails
  - surprisingly strong for their size, and are able to climb to the top of almost any tank
* are the intermediary host for anchor worm
  - slowest insects
  - univalves, which means they have one shell
  - vegetarians and eat many kinds of plant material
* are very active at night
  - important in the cycling of calcium
  - popular in Andalusia , Valencia and Catalonia
  - small animals that are only a few inches long and often weigh only a few ounces
* avoid garlic, chives, and wormwood plants and spices
  - protective borders of sand, lime, or ashes
* become active and move down from their aestivation sites
  - very inactive in winter
* can absorb mineral nutrients through their foot by simply sitting on a rock containing it
  - act as one gender in a season and the other gender next season
  - also gnaw through limestone
* can be a problem in California
  - shady, moist locations where roots are kept cool and moist
  - marine , aquatic , or terrestrial
  - objects of fascination for kids playing outside
  - serious pests to young trees
  - become unwanted pests, damaging the environment, local organisms, and food webs
  - cause serious damage to crops
  - choose sexual or asexual reproduction strategies
  - control the amount of slime on some riverbeds
  - defoliate young trees and damage fruit
  - devour entire plants overnight
  - eat through cardboard
  - have a long life
  - only crawl
  - pass unscathed through a the digestive system of birds and fish
  - penetrate a shell as thick as five millimeters
  - sleep for three years without eating
  - store the sperm for up to a year, but typically lay eggs within a couple of weeks
* chew leaves.
* come in a variety of colors including yellow, brown, gray, and black
  - hundreds of sizes, shapes, and colors
  - out at night to feed because it is safe then
* consume algas
  - rot vegetation
* contain both land and aquatic animals
  - many nutrients
* crawl along by a large, muscular foot.
* die under salty conditions.
* differ from slugs in that they have a shell in which to hide.
* drink pure water.
  - almost any kind of plant
* eat both cornmeal and cornstarch
  - dead and living plant material
  - by asserting radula against the leaf rasping it and scraping away particles
  - calcium food which is basically required for their shell
  - eggs off of sheep feces
  - fruits and vegetables
* eat mostly living plants as well as decaying plants
  - mussels and barnacles
* eat the larvae
  - waste debris that collects in the pond
* enter into states
* even have medicinal uses.
* exist on a diet primarily of living and decaying plants, fruits, and barks.
* feed mainly on decaying plants and fungi.
* find a hard substrate and attach themselves, sealing off the opening of the shell
* generally use smell, sight and feel to find food.
* grow by laying down new material around the edge of the roughly circular opening
  - rings inside of the shell as they grow
* has-part feelers
* hate salt.
* have a four-part brain capable of learning
  - hard shell which can also provide extra safety and shelter from predators and the sun
  - long soft body with a shell stuck on the back
  - prominent external shell and slugs have an internal shell
  - small air hole that it opens to breath
  - spiral shell with a distinct head and retractable foot
  - spirally curved shell, a broad retractable foot, and a distinct head
  - antennae and a pair of well-defined eyes
  - different shaped shells
  - reproductive organs
  - many predators in the wild
  - much time
  - one shell and are knows as univalve mollusks
  - similar slime but seem less loathsome because the shell covers some of the goo
  - small slits on their necks where fertilization occurs and the eggs develop
  - thousands of tiny teeth on their tongues called radula
  - to feed on foods that include large amounts of calcium
  - torsion , a process where the body coils to one side during development
* have two pairs of tentacles on the head
  - tentacles, a single broad flat foot and bear a spirally-coiled shell
  - well developed shells, which are generally spiral in shape
* includes brains
  - carapaces
  - cell membranes
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - faces
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - sections
  - shellfishes
  - skulls
  - vacuoles
* is an univalve
* leave a slime trail as they move on their muscular foot.
* live in environments
  - moist places
* live on damp habitats
* lives in ocean.
* love leaves.
* mainly mate on warm nights during the summer months.
* move according to their own reflexes and instincts
  - around a lot more under humid, moist conditions than under dry conditions
  - at an incredible slow speed
* move by a muscular, slimy foot under their body
  - crawling, swimming, or floating with currents
  - creeping along
  - muscle contractions throughout their foot and easily slide on their mucus
  - sliding on their single foot
  - the activity of waves of muscles passing forward along the sole of the foot
  - slowly so the guppies have a chance to pick food off the bottom
  - to yards
* often attach themselves to underside of boards
  - breed under ceramic pots
  - browse on plants when supplies of prepared food, dead fish or algae are low
  - harbor the bacteria
  - have parasites that affect man and other animals
  - lay eggs once a month
* only move short distances on their own.
* perform an important role by eating the dead plant material.
* possess a radula, which rough, tongue-like organ with rows of tiny teeth
  - single shell that is usually coiled, although sometimes flattened and cone shaped
* prefer habitats
  - stand water
  - to live in cool, dark places
  - warm water
* range greatly in size.
* regenerate shells.
* reproduce by inseminating each other with sperm.
  - moist, humid conditions to thrive
* resemble snails.
* roam earth.
* search for food.
* secrete a type of mucus or slime from their mucous gland
  - adhesive mucuses
  - mucus externally to keep their soft bodies from drying out
* seek damp, protected places.
* seem to be moving about seemingly comfortable in their new habitat.
* shine damp branches.
* show a tremendous variety of shapes, based primarily upon the logarithmic spiral
* sire offspring.
* spend many hours courting before they mate.
* start feeding , their reproductive organs mature and they copulate.
* swallow food.
* travel long distances, as well, but often leave a broken trail.
* use their chewing mout-parts to chew holes in foliage
  - radula to cut food
* usually spend the winter hiding under garden debris.
* utilize some bromeliads for concealment rather than food.
+ Gastropoda, General description
  * Snails have torsion, a process where the body coils to one side during development. The significance of this procedure is not yet clear. Page, Louise R. 2006.
+ Slug
  * Slugs belong to several different families which also include snails with shells. Snails are gastropods with a coiled shell large enough for the animal can retract inside it. The various families of land slugs are not very closely related, despite a superficial similarity in the overall body form.
+ Snail, Body parts, Foot
  - Shell: Gastropods
  * Snails are invertebrates, which are animals with no backbones. The shell on the snail helps protect it, and also reduces the loss of water by evaporation. Shells are many different shapes, sizes, and colours. Snails do not breathe through their mouths, instead they have a breathing hole under their shells
  * Land snails eat vegetables and fruits, such as lettuce, carrots, cucumber and apples. Aquatic snails are often carnivorous. Snails use their radula to cut food. The radula is a hard, rough plate in the mouth. Radula teeth are like little pieces of sandpaper. They are good for cutting up plants and if the snail eats meat they are good for tearing the meat apart. Radula teeth look like little fangs
  * Snails are found all over the world. Generally speaking, land snails live on  damp habitats. They live in caves and dark places. Snails can be found in dark places such as in a garden under plants. Some species live in cold places like the Arctic, and a few are found in warm places like beaches and deserts.
  * Some snails are aquatic, and live in water. They live in the sea, fish tanks, rivers and oceans
+ Song Thrush, Feeding: Thrushes
  * Snails are especially important when drought or hard weather makes it difficult to find other food. The Birds of the Western Palearctic'. Oxford University Press. The nestlings are mainly fed on animal food such as worms, slugs, snails and insect larvae.