How are the shells of a snail and slug different?

The most obvious difference between snails and slugs is the fact that snails have shells. A snail’s shell is like a home it carries around on its back. Slugs, on the other hand, have no shell. Snails and slugs make mucus so that they can move on the ground.

Which characteristics are common to snails and slugs?

Characteristics of Snails & Slugs

• General Body Structure. A snail’s body consists of five main parts – the head, the neck, the visceral hump, the tail and the foot.
• Reproduction. Both slugs and snails are hermaphrodites, meaning that both male and female organs are present in a single body.
• Feeding Habits.
• Habitat.

What is the main difference between a slug and an earthworm?

Worms and slugs have soft bodies, do not have arms or legs, and move by crawling. Worms crawl by stretching and contracting the strong muscles in their bodies. Slugs have a single muscular foot. The foot moves the slug in a wavelike motion, gliding along the surface.

Are snail and slugs the same?

Snails and slugs are similar animals. The main difference between them is that a snail has a shell and a slug does not. Snails and slugs belong to the group of soft-bodied animals called mollusks, which also includes oysters, clams, and squid. A snail has a coiled body and shell.

Are snails and slugs in the same family?

Slugs and snails are mollusks, the same family of creatures claiming oysters, octopus, squid and clams. There are more than 60,000 species of snails and slugs. The varieties living in the sea begin life as larvae floating about in plankton. Land and freshwater slugs and snails typically hatch from eggs.

What are the distinguishing characteristics of snail?

Snails usually have a spiral-shaped shell which is wound around a spindle. This is the snail shell which they retract their soft bodies into when there is danger. Because of this, they are asymmetrical, and this asymmetry is mirrored inside their bodies. The snail shell is al- ways constructed in the same way.

What are the characteristics of slugs?

The external anatomy of a slug includes the following: Tentacles Like other pulmonate land gastropods, the majority of land slugs have two pairs of ‘feelers’ or tentacles on their head. The upper pair is light sensing and has eyespots at the ends, while the lower pair provides the sense of smell.

Is Leech and snail same?

At first glance, leeches and slugs are similarly nasty elongated, slimy creatures. Despite their similar body forms, they are different from each other. Leeches are related to earthworms; most of them feed on the blood of other creatures. Slugs are mollusks — they’re basically snails without shells.

What is the difference between snail and leech?

Leeches are relatives of earthworms, and mostly feed upon the blood of other creatures, whereas Slugs belong to mollusks, which is why their structure resembles that of snails, but lacks the outer shell or a tough covering. Leeches and Slugs are similar invertebrates, but differ in their places of dwelling.

What is the difference between a slug and a snail?

Difference between Snail and Slug. Key Difference: Snails and slugs, both are invertebrate animals which belong to the Phylum Mollusca. Snails and slugs are closely related. However, the main difference between the two is that snails carry a protective shell on their back and slugs lack a protective shell.

Why don’t slugs have shells?

Because there’s no shell, the slug can maneuver and compress itself into hiding places with very little space, e.g. loose bark on trees or beneath stone slabs and wooden boards. This gives it a great environmental and survival advantage.

Why do snails live in their shells?

This gives it a great environmental and survival advantage. Snails trade off that flexibility for the ability to quickly retreat into their shells for protection, especially from its natural enemies. Both slugs and snails prefer hot and humid climates with ample shade for hiding.

What is another name for snails with shells?

Snail is a common name for almost all gastropod mollusks that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. Internal; at times vestigial or reduced size.