Fish and Marine Life Illustrations
Gilled Snail Shell, colored pencil
Commissioned by: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
About gilled snails:
Snails are defined as either gilled or pulmonate. Pulmonate snails have lungs, can breathe air, and are generally hermaphroditic. The shells are "left-handed". Gilled snails have gills, have separate sexes, and their shells are "right-handed". Gilled snails eat decaying plants and algae. They can close the opening of their shell with a plate called an operculum. Eggs are laid in the spring. They live two to five years.
Taxonomy:
Phylum: Mollusca (bilateral symmetry, unsegmented)
Class: Gastropoda (muscular foot, distinct cephalic region)
More about snails:
Environmental Education for Kids:
Orb, Gilled, and Pouch Snails
Stillman Nature Center: Sinistral Snails