A snail, is a snail, is a snail…..Not.

~ laura lecce
Puerto Rican Snail - Photograph by Laura Lecce
Puerto Rican Snail – Photograph by Laura Lecce

You know you were meant to be a biologist when you get excited to discover that snails from different parts of the world look different. Both Puerto Rican and Malaysian snails are the size of mammoths compared to snails found in Sydney backyards (hopefully this fact makes Sydney gardeners a little happier). However, the shell shapes of these slimy creatures is very different. The snails from Puerto Rico are quite flattened, with the center point of the spiral barely protruding at all (photo above). Malaysian snails have a very elongated shell with the spiral being very pointed (photo below). If you are unlucky enough to have lots of snails in your veggie patch in Sydney, you might one day be lucky enough to attract a blue tongue lizard to your yard. These stocky lizards will happily take care of your slimy infestation, which is reason enough for me to keep feeding the snails in the hope that a lizard one day comes to dinner.

Malaysian Snail – Photograph by Laura Lecce

21 thoughts on “A snail, is a snail, is a snail…..Not.”

  1. I guess it looks like I could have been a biologist because I find your post very interesting. 🙂 I am also a “critter lover” I do garden but I happily will take a snail and remove him and plop him down a safe area, just can’t kill the things. I will go look up that lizard, I want to see what he looks like. I have heard that Australia has oodles of critters, what a land of opportunity!

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    1. Hi Margaret,
      Thanks for sharing in my interests, not sure how many others will! Australia certainly does have a fair share of wonderful critters (and plenty of not so wonderful ones too!). Hope you like the blue tongue lizard, it’s a fairly common lizard in most parts of Australia.

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  3. I wish you good luck with your blue-tongue lizard attraction campaign! The only one I’ve ever seen in the wild, sadly, had been the victim of a passing car.

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      1. Not so, Laura, and I’m sorry to have given that impression! I’ve been quite fortunate, actually. I’ve had memorable experiences with rainbow lorikeets, kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, kookaburras, magpies, bell birds, and more–and I even got to hold a wombat!

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      2. lol, thank gosh…you were starting to make me worry! That’s quite a list you have there, and you got to cuddle a wombat too? I see that you came across our mostly friendly, non-deadly critters…. no snakes or spiders crossed your path?

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  4. Not a single one, ever. Though I’ve seen a couple of your white-tails that had emigrated to New Zealand. Oh, and I forgot to mention my very favorite of your denizens–the fabulous fruit bats!

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      1. There are some bats whose visage, by many standards, could be considered demonic, but your fruit bat is–to my way of thinking, at least–definitely not among them. In fact, I consider them downright handsome, and it’s no wonder their other common name is flying fox. If you’ve delved into past posts of mine, you may have seen me mention my younger daughter, whom I call Batty on the website; she’s had a special interest in bats for most of her life and is certified for bat rehabilitation. (My older daughter, the marine biologist, is Squiddy.)

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      2. I think it’s wonderful that your daughter rehabilitates bats. It has always been a dream of mine to one day be an Australian wildlife rescue and rehabilitator… so hopefully one day. Very fitting and endearing nicknames 🙂

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  7. Thanks for sharing!

    I’ve just moved from Tennessee to southern Brazil, and I was also surprised to go from the flat, button snails of Tennessee to the snails here, who look like they’re carrying little conch shells around on their backs!

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      1. I have startled a couple of lizards out of the bushes already. They’re mammoth! I think I’m enjoying the birds the most though. We have some owls that live underground outside our apartment, and there are little parakeet-looking birds singing in the trees.

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