22 Snail Facts For Kids

1. Snail is the common name for a very large group of mollusks that have a coiled shell in the Gastropoda class.
2. A common misconception is snails are insects (bugs), but they are mollusks.
3. Paleontologists have found evidence suggesting snails and other gastropods first started to appear around 500 million years ago.
4. The distribution range for snails is worldwide, with some even living in the sub-Antarctic region.
5. Snails have a wide range of diets, varying by species, which means a snail could be an herbivore, omnivore, or a carnivore.
6. The green garden snail (Cantareus apertus) is an example of an herbivorous snail.
7. The amber snail (Powelliphanta hochstetteri) is an example of a carnivorous snail.
8. There are more than 40,000 species of snails found worldwide.
9. Snail species are divided into three different groups: land snails, freshwater snails, and sea snails.
10. Land snails are gastropod mollusk species that live on land (terrestrial).
11. Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusk species that live in bodies of freshwater.
12. Sea snails are gastropod mollusk species that live in marine environments (saltwater).
13. The garden snail (Cornu aspersum) is an example of a land snail.
14. The spotted nerite (Vittina natalensis) is an example of a freshwater snail.
15. The golden wentletrap (Epidendrium billeeanum) is an example of a sea snail.
16. The largest snail species is the Australian trumpet (Syrinx aruanus) with a shell length of up to 27.5 inches.
17. The smallest snail species is the Acmella nana with a shell length of only 0.07 centimeters.
18. The most venomous snail species is the geographer cone (Conus geographus) with hundreds of different toxins.
19. The average lifespan of a snail varies by species and size, but ranges between 1 and 10 years.
20. When a snail feels threatened it can recoil entirely into its shell as a defense mechanism.
21. Some snail species are labeled agricultural pests and several efforts are used to eradicate them to prevent crop damage.
22. Some people enjoy eating snails, like the Roman snail (Helix pomatia), and is called escargot in culinary circles.

Snail Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the below images will be helpful for your research on snails. Below are six pictures of various snail species. These pictures should help you better understand the different types of snails found around the world.

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