Snails have teeth generally 20 000 or more and while they have a similar organisation with central and lateral teeth, their shape is often dependent on the scraping or cutting of their preferred food sources. Teeth are positioned on a radula (multi-toothed feeding ribbon). The teeth are arranged in horizontal rows with the cutting edges (cusps) pointing towards the posterior of the radula which may have 100 teeth per row and 120 rows.

Pulmonate teeth

Pulmonate land snails (about 2500 species in Australia) are characterised by the ability to breathe air which they do via a lunglike pulmonary cavity located within the mantle.

A. SNAIL (Australian fungivore) Figuladra bayensis, Mt Biggenden, Queensland (Biggenden Banded Snail). This snail belongs to the family Camaenidae, one of the major families of land snails of the world and it has a wide diversity of form and of habitat preference. Camaenids are present in all terrestrial habitats in Australia with the exception of the sandy deserts. As a radiation from Asia, the number of species diminishes from north to south in Australia, with no species known to occur in far southwestern Australia nor in Tasmania (exception King Island in Bass Strait).

B. SLUG (fungivore) Cystopeltidae species. This small family of slugs is endemic to eastern and southeastern Australia.

C. SNAIL (carnivore) Protorugosa alpica, Carrai State Forest, NSW (Yellow-banded Carnivorous Snail). This snail belongs to Rhytididae, a family of carnivorous land snails found in Australia, New Zealand, islands of the western Pacific, Indonesia, the Seychelles and South Africa. In Australia, the family is confined to the eastern and southeastern regions except for one species that is found in the southwest of Western Australia. Their diet generally consists of snails and other invertebrates such as earthworms. They are known to be cannibalistic.

D. SEMI-SLUG (fungivore) : Nitor medioxima, Clarence river area, NSW (Dorrigo Glass-snail). This semi-slug belongs to the family Helicarionidae, a large and diverse family of snails distributed from Africa through to south-eastern Asia, the western Pacific and Australia. 

E. SNAIL (vegetarian) Cornu aspersum, Callanan Track (European Garden Snail). This snail belongs to Helicidae, is a large family of snails, native to the Palaearctic Region of Europe, western Asia and North Africa. Helicidae contains many species which have been introduced into most temperate regions of the world. Many of these species feed on living-plants and are serious garden pests. These snails were first introduced accidentally in Australia on plants, machinery, etc. They are now widespread and the distribution of several of these species reflects the main road, rail and river transport arteries.

Operculate teeth

Operculate land snails (less speciose and about 130 species in Australia) have an open pallial cavity and an operculum. The operculum is attached to the upper surface of the foot and serves as a sort of ‘trapdoor’ to close the aperture of the shell when the soft parts of the animal are retracted. This is used to seal the shell shut and to prevent drying out.

Images: All fungivores from the family Helicinidae, genus Pleuropoma. Australian species are found mainly in tropical rainforest or vine forest habitats of north-eastern Australia, where some are arboreal and others are associated with limestone outcrops.

A. OPERCULATE SNAIL Pleuropoma talusata, Dingo Beach, Mid-eastern Queensland (Keeled Droplet-snail).

B. OPERCULATE SNAIL Pleuropoma queenslandica, Cameron Creek, Mid-eastern Queensland (Mt Dryander Droplet-snail).

C. OPERCULATE SNAIL Pleuropoma MQ2, Eungella, Queensland.

Further reading:

Radula

Solem, A. 1973. Convergence in Pulmonate Radulae. The Veliger 15, 165-170.

Krings, W., Faust, T., Kovalev, A., Neiber, M. T., Glaubrecht, M. and Gorb, S. 2019. In slow motion: radula motion pattern and forces exerted to the substrate in the land snail Cornu aspersum (Mollusca, Gastropoda) during feeding. Royal Society Open Science 6 7), 190222.

Scheel, C., Gorb, S. N., Glaubrecht, M. and Krings, W. 2020. Not just scratching the surface: distinct radular motion patterns in Mollusca. Biol Open 9(10).

Introducing Euryladra mattea and Brigaladra volgiola previously thought to be Figuladra species. Both are endemic to Queensland. E. mattea inhabits open woodlands from the NSW border to just north of Rockhampton and B. volgiola inhabits dry vine thicket on rocky scree and open woodland in the Peak, Boomer, Broadsound and Expedition Ranges.

Click here to access the paper

Stanisic, L., Köhler, F. & Mcdougall, C. 2022. Two new genera of land snail from dry subtropical forests of eastern Australia: Brigaladra gen. nov. and Euryladra gen. nov. (Eupulmonata: Camaenidae). Invertebrate Systematics, 36, 506-532.

Great news! Our new book is due for publication in July..

The publication of the two somewhat hefty field guides has paved the way for an opportunity to produce this more general guide to Australia’s native land snails, their diversity and role in the Australian environment. In contrast to the structured nature of the two field guides, this handbook is a more entertaining overview of Australia’s native land snail fauna through a short introduction to the many aspects of their natural history, biology and classification. A guide to the families of Australia’s native snails presents diagnostic features of live snails and their shells in an easy to understand way to assist with their identification. A comprehensive coverage of introduced families deals with the many exotic species acquired by Australia since foundation. In a unique bioregional approach to snail identification, the reader is taken on a trek through some of Australia’s iconic regions highlighting their endemic and special snail faunas. This section is supplemented with key localities to some of the species to be found along the way, to enable the keen naturalist to observe these creatures in the wild.

The shells of most land snails are intrinsically beautiful but so are the live snails. Accordingly, the guide is richly illustrated with some of Australia’s most iconic snail species in living colour to help the reader fully appreciate these wonderful creatures.

The Australian native land snail fauna is, with the exception of a few widely ranging species, wholly endemic. There is also a cohort of species, introduced following European settlement, that inhabit urban gardens and otherwise disturbed environments such as orchards and farmlands. Among these are a small number of serious pest species whose impact will be briefly discussed in more detail in the family treatments.

To find out more and/or pre-order, click here

The Snail Whisperers gave a presentation on Australian land snails to folk at the Paddington Community Care Centre. Featuring a  powerpoint presentation, trays of land shells and terraria of live snails, the event showcased Australia’s native land snail fauna. The people present were enamoured by the diversity of the fauna and the live snails that performed quite admirably considering their previous outing was the World Science Festival Gladstone and ten school presentations.

Year 3 and 4 students at Warwick SS have shared their snail experience. Hands-on learning for life science is crucial and these students really enjoyed their snailing opportunity as much as we enjoyed working with them.

Another form for of the red triangle slug Triboniophorus graeffei has been sighted at the New England National Park.This slug was spotted along the Lyrebird Walk in the last couple of weeks. The orange body and solid red triangle are different from the red form at Mt Kaputar and the yellow form at Cunningham’s Gap.

Thank you to Adam Fawcett, Senior Project Officer for the Northern Inland Branch of NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service for the images.

Although only one species is recognised for eastern Australia, it is probable that revisionary studies will reveal additional species.

P-2 and Year 3 to 6 students proved to be budding malacologists (scientists who study snails) when the Snail Whisperers visited their school as part of the Future Makers program which is outsourced from Queensland Museum.

Some students brought in land snails from their properties and were able to learn both the scientific and common names of these species.

The students were particularly fascinated with the emerald green snails from Manus Island who survive with this bright green colour as they live in the tops of palm trees on the island. The emerald green snail or Manus green tree snail, scientific name Papustyla pulcherrima, is a species of large, air-breathing tree-snail. This snail is now a protected species internationally.

As an extension to the World Science Festival, the Snail Whisperers visited 5 local schools to work directly with students on land snails, part of their life science studies covering topics such as animal features, types of snails, adaptations to the environment, conservation and many other relevant STEM learnings. Enthusiast groups of P-2 and 3-6 students at Kogan State School had lots of fun learning about our native land snails and meeting them as they crawled on their hands.

Most were shocked to know that in many Asian countries, a snail facial with snails crawling across your face, was considered an expensive beauty treatment. Snail slime has been known to have healing properties for nearly 3000 years.

Chinchilla lived up to its chilly name as it hosted a number of scientists for a 2 day presentation – a free community day event is on Sunday 6 June and a student day for schools on Monday 7 June. All were immersed in the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at this exciting event returning to Chinchilla from 2020. Sessions included a Science Extravaganza Showcase that explored cool science careers and mind-blowing science experiments, and City Of Science where all who attended experienced close-up to exciting science activities and fascinating displays.

The Snail Whisperers were one such display. They enjoyed chatting with many members of the public and lots of school children during this time and teaching them about the wonders of land snails. Did you know our land snails have more than 20 000 teeth?

A group of highly enthusiastic young scientists worked with the Snail Whisperers to learn about land snails particularly how they adapt to the environment. Here they are enjoying science learning. Congratulations to the teachers who showed just how science learning can be enhanced by their own enthusiasm and preparation.