Talk:Snail

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Contents 1 Edit needed 2 How many species? 3 Eyes on stalks 4 Everything.com 5 Snails as food 6 Anyone feel like a big edit? 7 what do they eat? 8 Sam the snail stomper? 9 Do their shells Grow? 10 anatomy? 11 Giant African Snail 12 Do snails sleep 3 years? 13 Psychology section deleted 14 Care of snails 15 Re: Care of snails/Psychology section deleted 15.1 Psychology 15.2 Ok, third opinion 16 Why Do Snails Like Beer? 17 Close off a section 18 Love darts

[edit] Edit needed

The "feelers" are properly called "tentacles." Pennak's textbook, "Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States" says that most snails live 9-15 months (some species do live longer, but this article insinuates that most do). This article says "As you can see" and then never shows a diagram of the internal anatomy, so you can NOT see. The article has numerous other errors. It would be interesting to have a section discussing snails as intermediate hosts of the various parasites they carry. I would like to see a professional malacologist heavily edit this article. --Angelbugsf 22:08, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Yes, the picture was removed, we'll have to find one not protected by copywrite. With the lifespan indicated by the book, this if for freshwater aquatic snails, not land snails. Marine gastropods live considerably shorter than land ones. When you say 'numerous other errors' can you give some examples? By the way, once again, this is a refferal to LAND snails, I'll fix the title to indicate that. And I think you'll find that the words feelers and tentacles are synonymous in this case. If anything, feelers might be preffered as the term tentacles might make someone think of octopus/squid/nautilus/etc appendages. That's an interesting suggestion you have raised on parasites, I'm more of an expert on behaviour than this sort of thing. If anyone can find the information, I encourage them to write a section on it. --User:Crazy drunk hobo

[edit] How many species?

How many families, genera, species?

[edit] Eyes on stalks

http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/snail.html#characteristics

Eyes! Eyes on Stalks? I wanted to know what the stalks are officially called, then I somehow expected a link to all other animals with eyes on stalks. Unfortunately as I am not an expert on snail mechanisms I am not able to write the article. So if when looking at this comment, you reel back in total amazement at the utter obviousness of the answers to my snail-eye-stalk pondering... I challenge thee... get to it! Write and edit this snail article until it is full and fit and ripe with knowledge upon the same.

Haha, holy crap, that's the same reason I visited this article, because I wanted to reference a snail winning a race "by a nose", but instead of using nose, wanted to use mandible or whatever the term would be. Clearly this information is in high demand! Sherurcij ^{(talk) (Terrorist Wikiproject)} 19:14, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

It would be useful to talk about reproduction and what they eat. -Pedro 00:16, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

That's funny - I also came here to see where their eyes are! (that makes three of us now).

Yes, funny. You must be the third person not to have noticed the edit button at the top of the screen. - Samsara (talk • contribs) 19:42, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Hey guys, I don't know of the scientific name for them, and I'm not even sure if there are any- but I know the common names. The things the eyes are on are called 'eyestalks' and the things below those are simply called 'feelers'. Hope that helps!

OK, made a start (they are tentacles and the retractable ones in landsnails are called ommatophores). If someone wants more detail to be added it might make sense to all so bulk up the articles on landsnails, and freshwater snails ? Big job I know - especially since they don't quite fit natural taxomic groups --Igor nz 03:09, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Everything.com

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=49253 is interesting, and includes some information that's not here.

The author, "Tem42", says: [1]

All my factual WUs are copyleft.

Or copyless, anyway.
I would like someone more motivated than I to port them to www.wikipedia.org

So there you go.

[edit] Snails as food

In Portugal, almost all food snails are from the Pseudotachea splendida species, which are quite small (about 1,5cm adults). Shouldn't that be in this section?

I am Spanish, gazpacho never takes meat, snail either

[edit] Anyone feel like a big edit?

I added a bunch of content here the other day. Someone more familiar than I should probably break this up into a generic snail-like description (probably more like what was here before) and split it off into terrestrial and aquatic snails, with aquatic being broken down into freshwater and marine snails. And figure out if I was even close with the taxonomy.

Can we have some info re LIFE EXPECTANCY and their relationship with SLUGS, i.e. do they get on?

Just added life expectancy info. Its incompete but its a start! --Thegreatloofa 18:23, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

Snail is also the name of the Ultimate Frisbee team for the State University of New York at Geneseo. That ain't relevant, ditch it >:\ Sherurcij ^{(talk) (Terrorist Wikiproject)} 19:14, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

And why all the badly translated nursery rhymes? 157.140.5.49

Anything that relates to snails is relevant. and the trivia of it being a team name is interesting.

[edit] what do they eat?

I just saw a few snails on the ground and wondered what their diet consisted of - naturally I went inside and expected to find the answer on Wikipedia, but it isn't here.

Can someone add a section on what they eat/how they sustain themselves?

Hi. I just came here as well to find out what they eat. I saw on TV that they eat green leaves. I was wondering if I should or should not have these in my garden. Beneficial? Who knows. I know I don't know. Thanks to anybody that can answer this question. Do they eat the fruit of plants?

Hey guys, added a bit on diet in the article. hope that helps!

[edit] Sam the snail stomper?

Did we really need this line? And how was it overlooked for so long?

Snails can live for any amount of time in a year. But that is until the big robot Sam comes and stomps on them! Watch out!

Lost Cosmonaut 22:29, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

That's interesting.24.106.90.250 23:19, 12 June 2006 (UTC) I am a member of lsar and this is the kind of thing we are against.To find out more go to www.lsar.zoomshare.com

[edit] Do their shells Grow?

So obviously snails grow because I read of one that was over 15 inches long, but I know they start out in small shells as babies so how does that work? Does their shell grow with them and if yes how so because it is hard unlike something soft that may stretch and grow with you.

64.71.70.81 14:10, 25 June 2006 (UTC)karla

Yes, they do grow as they mature. When fully sized, snails still require a supply of calcium to repair their shells should they get damaged.

The reason that snails' shells can grow and still be hard, is they grow at the lip. If you look at a baby snail and compare it to a fully-grown snail, you can see the bit of the large snail that it has had since it hatched: The tip of the spiral. All the rest has been added later. Some snails also have clear ridges in their shells that are similar to growth rings in trees, and show periods of fast and slow growth. --Slashme 06:49, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] anatomy?

A little anatomy here would be very useful. Slug has a decent start at it, but I would welcome much more. I don't know enough even to start -- for example, it appears that eyes are at the base of some species (Apple snails) and on top of the stalks in others? Fill us in! (By the way, the grapevinesnail image is spectacular.) bikeable (talk) 05:22, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Hey guys, added in a section on this.

[edit] Giant African Snail

"The largest land snail is the Giant African Snail (Achatina achatina; Family Achatinidae), ..."

The link to the Giant African Snail gives the species as Achatina fulica. Which is it - "fulica" or "achatina"?

Jangim 05:56, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Do snails sleep 3 years?

There's some email forward thing going around the Net that says snails sleep 3 years. I doubt it, and there's nothing here about that, so I further doubt it. Can someone conclusively put this one to rest? Atkinson 04:04, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

If by "sleep" you mean what humans do, no. However, snails can "hibernate" (not technically hibernation either) for long periods under adverse conditions (e.g. drought), protected behind their opercula. This is just a quick answer, but anyone who has good technical knowledge of the matter can maybe add some info into the article. --Slashme 05:55, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

I don't have time to research it properly at the moment, but if you would like to know whether snails sleep at all, do a google scholar search for the terms "circadian" and "snail". It seems they definitely have a daily rhythm of activity and inactivity, but I didn't read any of the articles, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the concept myself. --Slashme 06:02, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Psychology section deleted

I deleted a section on the "psychology of snails". It seems to consist of the observations of a hobbyist, influenced by an anthropomorphic viewpoint. I would be surprised if any of this has any validity, but if it can be supported by valid citations, feel free to replace it.--Slashme 07:13, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Care of snails

I removed a lot of the detail in the section on the care of pet snails. It's not really appropriate to a general article on snails. I am not an expert on snails, so this section should be checked out. It's clearly not aimed at professional terraria, and I'm not sure whether it's really general enough. --Slashme 08:05, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Care of snails/Psychology section deleted

You are correct, you are obviously not an expert on snails; I think you will find the information extremely accurate, should you bother to do the proper research. As for the idea that it's not 'aimed at professional terreria', just because something isn't written in a super encyclopedic manner doesn't mean the content is inappropriate to the article. I will be reverting the text to how it was, and I suggest that you heavily research and raise snails for the next three years (as I have done) before removing stuff. I will be reinstating the previous version.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Crazy drunk hobo (talk • contribs) 04:12, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

A couple of points:

• Please sign your posts on talk pages (but not on the article itself!), so we can remember who said what.
• The section on snail psychology still looks highly speculative to me, and it looks like original research. Do you have any verifiable references to back your claims? If you have, as you say, heavily researched snails, and have any peer-reviewed publications in this area yourself, they do not count as original research.
• Note that Wikipedia is not a collection of instruction manuals. Your notes on the care and feeding of snails are quite comprehensive, but might be more appropriate at wikibooks.
• I realize that you felt aggrieved by my removal of the content that you took much time and effort to prepare, but please don't take it personally. Wikipedia is a collaborative effort, and suggesting that I raise snails for three years before I can have a valid opinion on what is appropriate to this article is not very civil.

In the light of these points, I will take another look at the page, revert what I think needs reverting, and eagerly await your revised text. --Slashme 15:10, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Psychology

From the article:

Although widely regarded as stupid, primitive animals, there is evidence that snails have emotions

If you don't say what evidence, the claim that "there is evidence" is an example of weasel words.

most notably, the idea that they make friends.

This is a very remarkable statement that can only be in a general encyclopedia if there is evidence to back it up.

Such a scenario is more common if the involved parties were from the same nest.

From what is generally known about invertebrate behaviour, this is once again, highly speculative.

It is unknown how the snails bond and the time taken, but once they are 'friends' they will do almost everything together; they will eat together, they will sleep and estivate next to each other, and will travel together.

Once again, very strange, and in need of firm evidence. Also, is this in the wild or in captivity?

Snails and slugs, though potentially competitors for food, get along fairly well.

This does not include predatory species, I assume?

No negative effects are evident in either species

snails and slugs are not species, they are groups of related mollusc species.

even while living in the same cage for weeks at a time. Some slugs will go so far as to piggyback on a snail's shell.

Irrelevant to issues of "psychology".

Friendly behavior is attributed to being closely related and having extremely similar needs.

Attributed by whom? Usually this kind of situation breeds competition, not cooperation.

Please address these issues in your next edit. --Slashme 15:48, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Ok, issues noted. I'll answer a few of your questions here:

With the friends issue, I guarantee this is not a joke. I myself was surprised at finding this. What happened here was that snails would go around in pairs constantly, for months at a time. I am fairly sure that this is not courtship, as it only lasts a day maximum and involves the snails crawling all over each other and then breeding- something which did not happen. This indicates bonding, obviously. And yes, I did have snails from four different nests, and it was much more common for this bonding to occur between members of the same nest.

And these observations were taken with captive snails, thank you for questioning that. However, this does not disturb the point that snails are capable of making 'friends'.

This is original research, so let us know when it's published, and we can reconsider.--Slashme 06:05, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

With the bit about predatory species, I am assuming you are talking about carnivorous aquatic gastropods. My findings here are about land gastropods.

There are carnivorous land snails.--Slashme 06:05, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Alright, I assumed wrong. The majority of carniverous gastropods are aquatic, so I thought you were talking about this. Nevermind. I did not test carniverous species, as they are a minority when compared to herbivorous gastropods. --User:Crazy drunk hobo

Responding to your statement about piggybacking, I feel that this is relevant to psychology. If a gastropod recognizes another animal as an enemy, they will not typically go so far as to make contact with the animal. Because slugs do this, it can be concluded that they are friendly towards snails, something which is most definitely involved in psychology.

Friendly, or just indifferent. --Slashme 06:05, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Well, they're definately not hostile. And if the slugs were indifferent to the snails, I don't think they would crawl all over them quite as much. Rather, I think they would ignore them. --User:Crazy drunk hobo

On the last line there, you raise a valid point. It should be noted once again that these observations were taken in captivity. I am not saying that in nature, with restricted food, snails and slugs would not compete. I am saying that snails and slugs have the capability and potential to get along because they are closely related and share needs. Think about it: if you had, say, a lion and a zebra (or any other animal that a lion hunts) sharing an enclosure, it would be extremely hard to make them get along, as the lion might just eat the zebra. Snails and slugs, however, would clearly not eat each other. If that section was written in a misleading manner, I thank you for pointing it out. If you confirm it was, I'll rewrite it so it is not.

Maybe you should write something more along the lines of "Different herbivorous gastropods generally tolerate each other well in captivity". But be bold and hack away at the page, and we'll see what you come up with. Also, don't let me get you down, see what consensus you find from other authors.--Slashme 06:05, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

It's funny that you should mention publication of findings, I am planning on doing so fairly soon. I'll let you guys know when I have done so. --User:Crazy drunk hobo

Ok, so the thing I really need to do is publish my findings. Gotcha. I'll let you know when this is done, but it may take a while.

[edit] Ok, third opinion

Backed up with Wikipedia Policies....

• Wikipedia is not... a publisher of original thought . Your original research is inapprpriate here. Once published it would be up to someone else besides yourself to bring it into the article.
• Wikipedia is not... #4 instruction manual - that kind of non-encyclopedic information belongs in a sister project like Wikibooks or even Wiki Howto, you could even link to it from the External links section. It has to go from this article. Nashville Monkey 20:04, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Why Do Snails Like Beer?

I've seen several You Tube vids of snails gorging themselves on beer anyone know why they like it so much? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Evangelion883 (talk • contribs) 20:09, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Because ethanol has a high calorific value, it is probably an attractive source of energy. Also, there are lots of volatile compounds in beer that originate from fermented plant matter, that would probably also attract snails, as they do not only feed off fresh plants, but also decomposing plants. --Slashme 11:06, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Hey guys, It should also be noted that although a few drops of beer, occasionally, can be ok for the snails, if they 'gorge' themselves on it, they'll die from alcohol poisoning (duh), so who is posting this on youtube? A practicer of animal cruelty? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Crazy drunk hobo (talk • contribs) 02:53, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Close off a section

I see the article says that snails close off sections of their shells as they grow. I know the nautilus does this, but I haven't noticed this in the shells of garden snails. Comments? --Slashme 05:56, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

This may be a reference to the area around the gonad, but I'm not sure if this is really valid. I agree with Slashme, garden snails do not seal off sections of their shell, and most certainly not in the manner of the nautilus. Should this be removed? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Crazy drunk hobo (talk • contribs) 03:01, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Love darts

It'd be worth a mention of these somewhere on this. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 146.191.228.10 (talk) 15:06, 14 March 2007 (UTC).