How do snails multiply?

How do snails multiply?



Snails are amazing creatures. The absolute majority of all the present snails are hermaphrodites, i.e. Beings who have both male and female genital organs at the same time. It is curious that in sexual maturity the sexual organs of snails become exclusively feminine.





Many snails are hermaphrodites

















How do terrestrial snails multiply?

Snails multiply not more than once a year. The behavior of these creatures changes markedly when the time of their mating comes. Snails start to crawl more slowly than usual and make frequent stops. They can stay in place for a long time, waiting for their sexual partner for hours. As soon as the second partner appears, the snails begin their own wedding games. The steaming snails begin courting each other, merging into the marriage dance. They swing from side to side, after which they are pulled upwards and come into contact with each other with the help of so-called soles - a muscular leg. Tightly snuggled snails can lie in this position until half an hour. Zoologists have noticed that mating games of snails can last up to 2 hours and end with mating. Fertilization between two cochlea occurs by the needle method: the mollusks rush into the bodies of each other calcareous needles, which are usually called love arrows. This allows each of the partners to fulfill the role of both male and female. By the way, the time of copulation of snails entirely depends on their biological form and takes a very different time. The eggs of the ground snails are laid under the stems of plants or buried in small earthen fossae. In one masonry there can be from 30 to 40 white or pearl white eggs. The laying of eggs is a fairly serious and responsible process for the snail, after fulfilling which it falls asleep. The incubation period of "ripening" of eggs lasts up to a month.

How do aquarium snails breed?

The snails also multiply in an interesting wayin aquarium. From their land relatives they are distinguished by the presence of a long breathing tube, which allows them to breathe oxygen without rising to the water surface. Unlike terrestrial snails, which are hermaphrodites, their water relatives are of different sexes. To distinguish the male from the female by external signs is practically not possible. The aquarium snails vary only in the aquatic environment, and they lay eggs in the air - above the water boundary. For example, ampullarias spawn their eggs on the walls of the aquarium, because outside the aquarium these snails will simply perish. Before laying, the female ampulyarya for a long time examines the surrounding terrain on the glass of the aquarium. As soon as she finds a suitable place, she begins to throw her caviar, which is glued to the glass. The result is something like a grapevine. Within 3 weeks of these eggs spawn young. We stand to them to be born, as they fall into the water. Start a new generation!