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''Cornu aspersum'' (syn. ''Cryptomphalus aspersus''), known by the
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
garden snail, is a species of
land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known ...
in the family Helicidae, which includes some of the most familiar land snails. Of all
terrestrial molluscs Terrestrial molluscs or land molluscs (mollusks) are an ecological group that includes all molluscs that live on land in contrast to freshwater and marine molluscs. They probably first occurred in the Carboniferous, arising from freshwater on ...
, this species may well be the most widely known. It was classified under the name ''Helix aspersa'' for over two centuries, but the prevailing classification now places it in the genus ''Cornu''. The snail is relished as a food item in some areas, but it is also widely regarded as a pest in gardens and in agriculture, especially in regions where it has been introduced accidentally, and where snails are not usually considered to be a menu item.


Description

The adult bears a hard, thin
calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an ad ...
shell in diameter and high, with four or five whorls. The shell is variable in coloring and shade of color, but generally it has a reticulated pattern of dark brown, brownish-golden, or chestnut with yellow stripes, flecks, or streaks (characteristically interrupted brown colour bands). The aperture is large and characteristically oblique, its margin in adults is whitish and reflected. The body is soft and slimy, brownish-grey, and able to be retracted entirely into the shell, which the animal does when inactive or threatened. When injured or badly irritated the snail produces a defensive froth of mucus that might repel some enemies or overwhelm aggressive small ants and the like. It has no operculum; during dry or cold weather it seals the aperture of the shell with a thin membrane of dried mucus; the term for such a membrane is '' epiphragm''. The epiphragm helps the snail retain moisture and protects it from small predators such as some ants. The snail's quiescent periods during heat and drought are known as
aestivation Aestivation ( la, aestas (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a ...
; its quiescence during winter is known as
overwintering Overwintering is the process by which some organisms pass through or wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions (cold or sub-zero temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal act ...
. When overwintering, ''Cornu aspersum'' avoids the formation of ice in its tissues by altering the
osmotic Osmosis (, ) is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of low water potential (region ...
components of its blood (or haemolymph); this permits it to survive temperatures as low as . During aestivation, the
mantle A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak. Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: *Mantle (clothing), a cloak-like garment worn mainly by women as fashionable outerwear **Mantle (vesture), an Eastern Orthodox ve ...
collar has the ability to change its permeability to water. The snail also has an
osmoregulatory Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of an organism's body fluids, detected by osmoreceptors, to maintain the homeostasis of the organism's water content; that is, it maintains the fluid balance and the concentration o ...
mechanism that prevents excessive absorption of water during hibernation. These mechanisms allow ''Cornu aspersum'' to avoid either fatal desiccation or hydration during months of either kind of quiescence. During times of activity the snail's head and "foot" emerge. The head bears four
tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...
s; the upper two are larger and bear eye-like light sensors, and the lower two are tactile and olfactory sense organs. The snail extends the tentacles by internal pressure of body fluids, and retracts all four tentacles into the head by invagination when threatened or otherwise retreating into its shell. The mouth is located beneath the tentacles, and contains a
chitin Chitin ( C8 H13 O5 N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is probably the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chit ...
ous
radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...
with which the snail scrapes and manipulates food particles. The shell of ''Cornu aspersum'' is almost always right-coiled, but exceptional left-coiled specimens are also known; see
Jeremy (snail) Jeremy was a left-coiled garden snail investigated by biologists. The snail had a rare condition which caused its shell to coil to the left; in most snails the shell coils to the right. At first it was thought to be a rare genetic mutation, alt ...
for an example.


Taxonomy

The accepted name of the species was long considered to be ''Helix aspersa'', a member of the genus ''Helix''. However, in a number of publications since 1990, it has instead been placed in various genera previously considered as
subgenera In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between ...
of ''Helix''. One such genus is ''Cornu'', which is appropriate if the species is considered as congeneric with the species previously known as '' Helix aperta''. Then the name would be ''Cornu aspersum''. Previously there was debate whether ''Cornu'' was a valid generic name (because it was first applied to teratological specimens), but a 2015 ruling has confirmed that it is so. Until this was established, Italian research teams and others used the generic name ''Cantareus'' instead. Other workers, including Ukrainian and Russian research teams, who regard ''H. aspersa'' and ''H. aperta'' as being in different genera, call the former ''Cryptomphalus aspersus''. It also still remains an arguable position to retain ''Helix'' as the generic name. Many subspecific varieties have been described on the basis of shell characters (e.g.). The most prominent example nowadays is the subspecies ''Cornu aspersum maximum'' (Taylor, 1883), originally described as a large shelled form from Algeria (but perhaps including similar forms from elsewhere). In the recent scientific literature the name has been applied both to large Algerian snails and to a large form found in snail farms. Some Algerian forms are indeed genetically quite distant from the usual, most widespread form, but the large form in snail farms is different again. It is also problematic that there was a prior use of the name ''Helix aspersa maxima'' unassociated with Algeria. The subspecies ''maximum'' is formally considered by some authorities as a junior synonym of ''Cornu aspersum''.


Life cycle

Like other
Pulmonata Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an Order (biology), order, and before that a Class (biology), subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a Respiratory system of gastro ...
, the individuals of the species ''Cornu aspersum'' are
hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have ...
s, producing both male and female
gamete A gamete (; , ultimately ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. In species that produce ...
s. Reproduction is usually sexual, although
self-fertilisation Autogamy, or self-fertilization, refers to the fusion of two gametes that come from one individual. Autogamy is predominantly observed in the form of self-pollination, a reproductive mechanism employed by many flowering plants. However, species ...
sometimes occurs. During a mating session of several hours, two snails exchange
sperm Sperm is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum, ...
. ''Cornu aspersum'' is one of the species that uses love darts during mating. About two weeks after fertilisation, the snail lays a batch of about 80 spherical pearly-white eggs into crevices in the topsoil, or sheltered under stones or the like. In a year it may lay approximately six batches of eggs. The size of the egg is 4 mm. The young snails take one to two years to reach maturity. In some regions snail farms produce these snails commercially.


Distribution

''Cornu aspersum'' is native to the Mediterranean region and its present range stretches from northwest
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...
, eastwards to
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
, and northwards to Britain. ''Cornu aspersum'' is a typically anthropochorous species; it has been spread to many geographical regions by humans, either deliberately or accidentally. Nowadays it is cosmopolitan in temperate zones, and has become
naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
in regions with climates that differ from the mediterranean climate in which it evolved.Arkive
''Helix aspersa''
Its passive anthropochory is the likeliest explanation for genetic resemblances between
allopatric Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...
populations. Its anthropochorous spread may have started as early as during the
Neolithic revolution The Neolithic Revolution, or the (First) Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an inc ...
some 8500 BP. Such anthropochory continues, sometimes resulting in locally catastrophic destruction of habitat or crops. Its increasing non-native distribution includes parts of Europe, such as Bohemia in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
since 2008. It is present in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
,
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
, Costa Rica and southern
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
. It was introduced to
Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
as a food animal by
Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
s in the 18th century, and into
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
as a food animal in the 1850s; it is now a notorious agricultural pest in both regions, especially in
citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...
groves and vineyards. Many jurisdictions have quarantines for preventing the importation of the snail in plant matter. A number of North African endemic forms and subspecies have been described on the basis of shell characters. ''Cornu aspersum aspersum'', in French commonly called the "petit gris" is native to the Mediterranean area and Western Europe, but has been spread widely elsewhere. The name ''Cornu aspersum maximum'' has been applied to a large form kept in
heliculture Heliciculture, commonly known as snail farming, is the process of raising edible land snails, primarily for human consumption or cosmetic use. The meat and snail eggs a.k.a. ''white caviar'' can be consumed as escargot and as a type of caviar, res ...
(in French commonly called the "gros gris"), but this is genetically distinct from large Algerian forms earlier given this name.


Ecology

''Cornu aspersum'' is a primarily a
herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpar ...
with a wide range of host plants. It feeds on numerous types of
fruit tree A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans — all trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, t ...
s,
vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the edible flower, flowers, ...
crops,
rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
bushes, garden
flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...
s, and
cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...
s. It also is an
omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...
scavenger that feeds on rotting plant material and on occasion will scavenge animal matter, such as crushed snails and worms. In turn it is a food source for many other animals, including small mammals, many bird species, lizards, frogs, centipedes, predatory insects such as glowworms in the family
Lampyridae The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
, and predatory terrestrial snails. The species may on occasion be of use as an indicator of environmental pollution, because it deposits heavy metals, such as
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...
, in its shell.


Parasites

Parasites of ''Cornu aspersum'' include a number of
nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant- parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a bro ...
s. Metacercariae of various species of the
digenea Digenea (Gr. ''Dis'' – double, ''Genos'' – race) is a class of trematodes in the Platyhelminthes phylum, consisting of parasitic flatworms (known as ''flukes'') with a syncytial tegument and, usually, two suckers, one ventral and one oral. ...
n genus ''
Brachylaima ''Brachylaima'' is a genus of trematodes. It has recently been discovered that it can infest the gastrointestinal tract of human beings. Epidemiology and transmission The first documented case of ''Brachylaima'' infestation (known as brachylaim ...
'' have also been reported, and those have potential for being harmful to people because the adults can infect humans.


Behavior

The snail secretes thixotropic adhesive
mucus Mucus ( ) is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in mucous glands, although it may also originate from mixed glands, which contain both serous and mucous cells. It ...
that permits locomotion by rhythmic waves of contraction passing forward within its muscular foot. Starting from the rear, the contraction of the longitudinal muscle fibres above a small area of the film of mucus causes shear that liquefies the mucus, permitting the tip of the tail to move forward. The contracted muscle relaxes while its immediately anteriad transverse band of longitudinal fibres contract in their turn, repeating the process, which continues forward until it reaches the head. At that point the whole animal has moved forward by the length of the contraction of one of the bands of contraction. However, depending on the length of the animal, several bands of contraction can be in progress simultaneously, so that the resultant speed amounts to the speed imparted by a single wave, multiplied by the number of individual waves passing along simultaneously. A separate type of wave motion that may be visible from the side enables the snail to conserve mucus when moving over a dry surface. It lifts its belly skin clear of the ground in arches, contacting only one to two thirds of the area it passes over. With suitable lighting the lifting may be seen from the side as illustrated, and the percentage of saving of mucus may be estimated from the area of wet mucus trail dabs that it leaves behind. This type of wave passes backwards at the speed of the snail's forward motion, therefore having a zero velocity with respect to the ground. The snail moves at a top speed of 1.3 centimetres per second (47 meters per hour or ~50 yards per hour), and has a strong homing instinct, readily returning to a regular
hibernation Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It mos ...
site.


Human relevance

The species is known as an agricultural and garden pest, an edible delicacy, and occasionally a household
pet A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...
. In
French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...
, it is known as ''petit gris'', and is served for instance in Escargot a la
Bordelaise Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
. Also in
Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, a ...
, a city of
Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
, there is a gastronomic festival called L’Aplec del Caragol dedicated to this type of snail, known as ''bover'', and attracts over 200,000 guests every year. From Crete are known a dish called "chochloi mpoumpouristoi"(snails turned upside down), the snails cooked alive in a hot pan, on a thick layer of sea salt. Other dishes with snails are snails with rosemary, etc. The practice of rearing snails for food is known as heliciculture. For purposes of cultivation, the snails are kept in a dark place in a wired cage with dry straw or dry wood. Coppiced wine-grape vines are often used for this purpose. During the rainy period the snails come out of hibernation and release most of their mucus onto the dry wood/straw. The snails are then prepared for cooking. Their texture when cooked is slightly chewy.


Approaches to snail pest control

There are a variety of snail-control measures that gardeners and farmers use in an attempt to reduce damage to valuable plants. Traditional pesticides are still used, as are many less toxic control options such as concentrated
garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...
or wormwood solutions.
Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...
metal is also a snail repellent, and thus a copper band around the trunk of a tree will prevent snails from climbing up and reaching the foliage and fruit.
Caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine chemical classification, class. It is mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally as a Nootropic, cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional perfor ...
has proven surprisingly toxic to snails, to the extent that spent coffee grounds (not decaffeinated) make a safe and immediately effective snail-repellant and even molluscicidal mulch for pot-plants, or for wherever else the supply is adequate. Garden snails can be easily controlled and trapped with a simple trap created by cutting a plastic bottle in half and burying the bottom half so the top is level with the soil, then partially filling the bottle bottom with any variety of
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
. Snails are attracted to the carbohydrates and yeast in beer, and crawl into the trap and drown. This method requires that the trap be checked every day and dead snails removed and the trap refilled with beer as it evaporates over time. Traps should be spaced every three to four meters from one another for coverage of a large garden. The decollate snail (''Rumina decollata'') will capture and eat garden snails, and because of this it has sometimes been introduced as a
biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also i ...
agent. However, this is not without problems, as the decollate snail is just as likely to attack and devour other species of gastropods that may represent a valuable part of the native fauna of the region.


Pharmacological studies

''Cornu aspersum'' has gained some popularity as the chief ingredient in skin creams and gels (crema/gel de caracol) sold in the US. These creams are promoted as being suitable for use on wrinkles, scars, dry skin, and acne to reduce pigmentation, scarring, and wrinkles. Secretions of ''Cornu aspersum'' produced under stress have skin-regenerative properties because of antioxidant
superoxide dismutase Superoxide dismutase (SOD, ) is an enzyme that alternately catalyzes the dismutation (or partitioning) of the superoxide () radical into ordinary molecular oxygen (O2) and hydrogen peroxide (). Superoxide is produced as a by-product of oxygen ...
and
glutathione S-transferase Glutathione ''S''-transferases (GSTs), previously known as ligandins, are a family of eukaryotic and prokaryotic phase II metabolic isozymes best known for their ability to catalyze the conjugation of the reduced form of glutathione (GSH) ...
(GSTs) activities. The secretions can stimulate
fibroblast A fibroblast is a type of biological cell that synthesizes the extracellular matrix and collagen, produces the structural framework ( stroma) for animal tissues, and plays a critical role in wound healing. Fibroblasts are the most common cells ...
proliferation and rearrange the actin
cytoskeleton The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane and is co ...
stimulate extracellular matrix assembly and regulation of metalloproteinase activities for regeneration of wounded tissue. The mucus of ''Cornu aspersum'' contains a rich source of substances that can be used to treat biotic human diseases. Nine fractions of compounds with varying molecular weight were purified from the mucus and was tested against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. Results found three fractions exhibited predominant antibacterial activity against the gram-positive strain.


References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from reference.


Further reading


''Comment on Cornu Born, 1778 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pulmonata, HELICIDAE):request for a ruling on the availability of the generic name'' (Case 3518; see BZN 68: 97–104, 282–292; 69: 124–127, 219–221); ''Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature'' 70(1) March 2013


External links


''Helix aspersa''
at Animalbase taxonomy, short description, distribution, biology, status (threats), images
''Helix aspersa''
images at Encyclopedia of Life including genitalia drawings
brown garden snail
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures website
Canada Agriculture Fact Sheet

BBC Info Page

Extreme Close-Up Video of the North American Garden Snail


* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDCDbMTJx1o Video of froth protection response of Cornu aspersum* Zachi Evenor
A video showing a garden snail (Cornu aspersum / Helix aspersa) in action
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
, November 9, 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornu Aspersum Helicidae Agricultural pest molluscs Gastropods described in 1774 Taxa named by Otto Friedrich Müller Articles containing video clips Gastropods of Lord Howe Island Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN