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The snail is a gentle, slow-moving mollusk, well protected from predators and threats in its coiled shell. They build their shields with a substance called calcium carbonate, which spiral outward in whorls as they grow. There are thousands of different species, divided into three basic categories: land snails, freshwater snails, and sea snails. Dressed in their extravagant shells, snails can be creatures of exceptional beauty. This article covers some fascinating details about the 10 most adorable species in the world. Some of the factors that will be considered in ranking these cute snails are the complexity and beauty of the shells, the bright and extravagant colors, and otherwise unusual appearances.
#10: Apple snails
The apple snail is a family of freshwater snails with a diverse geographic range extending between South America and the southern United States. They are especially popular aquarium animals because of their large size and fascinating appearance. Named for the curved, apple-shaped shell, they come in a variety of dazzling colors including blue, purple, pink and jade, sometimes decorated with stripes, and can grow up to six inches tall. They are also one of the few animals that can consistently breathe through both the lungs and gills. Unfortunately, apple snails can also be a bit of a pest, as they tend to invade foreign ecosystems and damage local crops, which can starve other species.
#9: Rabbit Snails
These snails have two different names: either the rabbit snail (because of their large ear-like antennae) or the elephant snail (due to its wrinkled skin and long “trunk”). These tropical species are native to the waters around Indonesia, but they are also quite popular aquarium animals in the exotic pet trade. They are quite small (about two inches long), their skin has bright and extravagant colors and they can be teamed up with just about any other non-aggressive tank mate. Some species have particularly tall shells that spiral upward in seven or eight interesting whorls. The rabbit snail is relatively easy to keep in an aquarium and likes to feed on algae and decaying plant material. They usually live one to three years at a time.
#8: Domed Land Snails
Sometimes you find the most beautiful species in the most unexpected places. In 2012, scientists discovered this snail hidden in the depths of Croatia’s Lukina Jama-Trojama cave system, extending to over 2,500 feet. This spectacular species has a few things in its favor to rank it above other cute snails. The first is its incredibly small size. At just two millimeters in height (that’s 0.08 inches), they are some of the smallest snails in the world. The second is that they have a very translucent body and shell, which turn a milky white color with age. You can almost see right through it.
Being shrouded in near complete darkness their entire lives, they have lost their ability to see in real detail. It is believed that their mobility is also limited; instead, they seem to move with the mud and water of the cave.
#7: Violet Sea Snails
Dressed in a beautiful violet-blue or white shell, the violet sea snail spends its entire life on the ocean’s surface, feeding on the abundant amount of plankton around them. They live almost everywhere with tropical or temperate waters, sometimes they even wash up on the beach for people to find. Violet sea snails maintain their buoyancy by floating on a bubble raft of their creation. It can essentially secrete mucus from the foot which then traps and hardens the air bubbles around it. This is quite a clever trick and cute too.
#6: Red Nerite Snails
Also known as the red racer, this species thrives in brackish or freshwater areas of the Philippines, including mangrove forests, estuaries and streams; they also come ashore quite often. The name of this species comes from the elaborate scale patterns of alternating red, yellow and black zigzag bands. One of the most appealing features is that no two snails seem to have the exact pattern on their shells.
They have been part of the aquarium trade since 2015 and thrive best when they have plenty of algae and decaying plant matter to feed on, making them an excellent tank cleaner. They tend not to disturb fresh plants at all. Although they need salt water to reproduce, red nerites live well in freshwater tanks. The typical lifespan is four to five years.
#5: Amphidromus Snails
The scientific name of this genus doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue; it generally translates to mean “run on both sides” from the Greek. But whatever it sounds like, the name accurately refers to the fact that the shell can roll up both left and right, which is a very rare phenomenon in the mollusc world, as snails with opposing shells have trouble reproducing.
The tropical Amphidromus, native to the south Asia and Australia, comes in a variety of bright colors and extravagant shapes. The combination of yellow, purple, brown, green and blue markings, which vary with the species, almost looks like they were painted by hand. These snails spend much of their lives
in
trees and descend only to create more baby snails, but otherwise little is known about how they live.
#4: Sea Butterflies
These spectacular, shiny and sometimes even transparent sea snails are found at ocean depths of about a few hundred feet, swept up by the currents. The shells are very fragile, reduced or even completely absent in some species, which could unfortunately make them vulnerable to ocean acidification caused by climate change. They are especially abundant in the Arctic waters, feeding on many different types of plankton as they flutter about with the flaps of their “wings”, moving vertically in the water column from day to night. In turn, they are very important food sources for many marine fish. When they come near a beach, their shells can sometimes cause some pain to swimmers, but otherwise they are harmless to humans and also look very cute.
#3: Candy Cane Snails
This amazing candy-colored species, with its white shell, measuring up to 2.4 inches long, dressed in three to six orange, yellow, red and purple stripes, is native to the islands of the Caribbean. It spends most of its life in trees, feeding on lichen, moss, twigs and small branches with its numerous rows of sharp teeth, occasionally descending to the ground to lay his eggs in the moist soil. Upon hatching, the baby snails climb back up into the trees to spend their lives. Heaps of shells discovered in modern times Dominican Republic may indicate that it was once used as a food source by pre-Columbian indigenous peoples.
#2: Cuban Painted Snails
The Caribbean Island Cuba is home to some of the most diverse and beautiful snails in the world, and the Cuban painted snails are among the most fascinating depictions of them. The six species in this genus have round shells that come in a multitude of different colors, from bright yellow to deep purple. Long stripes will usually follow the whorl of the shell to accentuate the swirling look.
The snails spend much of their lives in trees, feeding on moss, lichen and fungi, then reproduce in the wet season to create more baby snails. During the dry season, it can close the shell opening with its mucus, allowing it to remain dormant and undisturbed until the rain comes again. Unfortunately, these snails are highly threatened by predators, deforestation, invasive species, climate change and poaching. Their beautiful shells make them sought after for use in jewelry and trinkets.
#1: Top snails with jewels
Native to the kelp forests of North America Pacific coast, stretching between southeast Alaska and Baja CaliforniaThe bejeweled top snail earns first place in this ranking of cute snails for its beautiful conical gold shell, each of the nine whorls traced with violet or magenta stripes. They spend their entire lives suspended from the middle part of the kelp stalk and feed mainly on algae and simple marine animals invertebrates; the closely related species of channeled top snails live above them in the canopy and blue top snails live near the underside of the stem. If the top slug is knocked off, it just climbs back up. When breeding season approaches, top snails lay eggs in gelatinous ribbons for another snail to fertilize. The baby snails hatch from the eggs in their “adult” form rather than as larval ones.
Next one: What Do Betta Fish Eat?
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