Do snails become slugs if their shells get removed?

Question

i was always under the impression that snails cannot live without their shells. is it true that snails become slugs if their shells get removed? if not, do they die if their shells get removed?

the lyrics in They Might Be Giants' song 'Snail Shell' prompted this question.

Answer 1

Although a slug is similar to a snail without a shell, since they are both gastropods, an actual snail would die without its shell. The shell of snail is bonded to the creature's skin, so removing the shell would destroying important organs attached to that part of the skin. In addition, removal of the shell would expose the snail to all the things the shell is meant to protect it from, like predators and the elements.

Answer 2

Snails and slugs are different animals. A snail cannot 'become' a slug. They are both molluscs, but the slug doesn't grow a shell during development. Whereas the snail does.

Snails cannot live without their shells (except some aquatic snails and I think one rainforest variety - and this is for specific physiological and environmental reasons unique to these varieties).

The body of the snail spirals up with the spiral of the shell. It is *very* soft and doesn't have the thick skin like the foot of the snail, so removing the shell will make the snail dry out and die. That is if you don't kill it when trying to remove the shell. (if you do ever get a chance to remove a snail from it's shell, it will look a little like a corkscrew).

Removing the shell will also remove the support the snail needs to get around and feed. That's pretty much equivalent to removing the bones of a mammal and expecting it to live.

A slug has protection all over, and is designed not to have a shell.

Answer 3

No, snails and slugs are quite different animals. A snail would die if it's shell was removed, as most of its vital organs are in there. Slugs have a largely similar body plan, but their organs are all inside the relatively vulnerable main body or foot.

Answer 4

What Do Snails Look Like

Answer 5

If in Terms of science in case of Baby snails they become slugs if they were exposed to metal Platinum So try it You don't have to remove the shell actually to make sails into slug

Answer 6

If you take a shell off a snail it is like taking a shell off a turtle! PURE EVIL! I've seen some one do that and say that the snail's head flew clean off! So, as I said, PURE EVIL!!!

Answer 7

They die. It is impossible for them to live without their shells. And, as a corollary, they never "moult" like insects or snakes as they grow; they just keep adding more "turns" to the spiral. Thus, they are never "bare to the world."

Answer 8

Snails are made to be snails. That's like asking if humans ate only bananas, would be monkeys?

Answer 9

they become dead snails

Answer 10

they die