They have a rough, tongue-like structure, called a radula, with which they scrape away at food. They have a spiral shell and a tough plate, called an operculum, that can seal them inside in case of danger.
Snails have an odd development, the young going through a torsion that results in the anus emptying waste out at the back of the head. In the more aquatic gastropods, there are gills instead. Snails and slugs breathe through respiratory pores, the oxygen being absorbed directly into the abundant tiny blood vessels of the mantle. They provide food for all sorts of mammals, birds, slow worms, earthworms, insects and they are part of the natural balance. Both are active mainly at night, especially in spring and autumn when the weather is warm and wet. Snails maintain their moisture level by going into their shells. Slugs thrive in damp soil or plant debris, retreating deep into the soil when the weather is dry. Both the slug and the sea slug (nudibranch) lack a shell. A Slugs and snails are molluscs and need a moist environment to survive. They both propel themselves with a muscular foot that continuously secretes a slimy mucous to help them glide, and both thrive in similar environments. The primary difference between the two is that slugs are without the snail’s external spiral shell. Many gastropods have shells, though not all. Snails and slugs both belong to the mollusk phylum, and have similar bodies and biology. They have a large, muscular foot on which they move slowly along any surface and the visceral mass sits atop the foot. Others are carnivores and use the radula to penetrate the shells of their prey. Habitat: They are found in both salt (marine) and freshwater habitats and on land.ĭiet: Some gastropods are herbivores using the radula to scrape off food particles. Almost all common garden snails and slugs (except the uniquely destructive Field Slug. Also, some slugs contain small 'internal. Beyond that, things get confusing for biologists, as you might guess learning that slug species are scattered through several different families, and some of those families include snail species with shells. The gastropods include snails, slugs, conchs, periwinkles and sea slugs. Theres no doubt that slugs and snails help to clean up garden debris. Technically, both snails and slugs are gastropods belonging to the taxonomic class Gastropoda.