Question

How does the snail move?

Answer 1

Hint: Snail belongs to the phylum Mollusca. They are mostly amphibious. They have a soft and slimy body with a hard calcareous shell.

Complete Answer:
- The biological name of the land snail is Cornu aspersum. Snail is the terrestrial mollusc which has a hard shell on it. Most of the land snails have lungs and breathe air. They live in damp or wet habitats. The land snails are hermaphrodite and lay eggs on soil. They have a set of tentacles which act as an olfactory organ.
- The land snail moves by gliding along on their muscular foot. The foot is lubricated with mucus and is covered with epithelial cilia.
- Snails secrete mucus to keep them wet. This mucus has different properties which help it for movement. This mucus also helps in reducing friction during locomotion. Thus they can easily glide over sharp objects without getting hurt.
- The motion of the snail is governed by a long muscular foot. The waves are generated due to the muscle contraction that moves down the ventral of the foot. The muscular movement is visible when the snail moves.

Additional Information: Herbivore mollusc moves slower than the carnivore mollusc. Snail moves at a very slow speed i.e. around 1mm/s.

Note: Snail uses its muscular foot to glide on the slime layer which it secretes for locomotion. The muscle contraction produces a wave like motion which helps it to crawl over the slime layer.