Otala lactea
Otala lactea, known as the milk snail or Spanish snail, is a large, edible species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk, in the family Helicidae, the typical snails. Archaeological recovery at the Ancient Roman site of Volubilis, in Morocco, illustrates prehistoric exploitation of "O. lactea" by humans. Distribution. This species of snail is native to the western Mediterranean Basin in the southern Iberian Peninsula, Morocco, Algeria, Balearic and Canary Islands, Malta and Corsica. It has been introduced to the Azores, Madeira, United States, including Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas, and to Bermuda, Cuba, and  southeastern Australia. Anatomy. This snail creates and uses love darts as part of its courtship behaviour, prior to mating. The shell of the snail plays an important role on its quality of life. This is because the calcium in the snails shell allows for shell regeneration to take place, if the shell was ever to be broken. "O. lactea" has developed the evolutionary adaptation of estivation to help it deal with harsh conditions such as drought or famine. During this time, "O. lactea" suppresses its metabolism. This effects many of the body functions. On a cellular level, this conversion from  normal to estivation is seen impacting the Na/K-ATPase function. The Na/K-ATPase activity has been shown to be significantly reduced during estivation. As the Na/K-ATPase pump uses quite a lot of ATP, the suppression of this pump plays a key role in the conversion to estivation in the "O. lactea."