Latest news with #snail
CBC
16-05-2025
- Science
- CBC
N.Z. carnivorous snail filmed for 1st time laying an egg from its neck
Lisa Flanagan, a ranger at New Zealand's Department of Conservation, filmed the moment the Powelliphanta augusta snail laid its egg from the genital pore in the side of its neck. (Credit: New Zealand Department of Conservation)
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Science
- The Independent
New snail species with shell shaped like Picasso's art discovered
A tiny new snail species discovered in Thailand has been named after legendary artist Pablo Picasso, due to the strange, complex geometric patterns seen on its shell. The species, measuring only 3 millimetres (0.1 in) in size, has been named Anauchen picasso owing to the rectangularly angled whorls on its shell. These whorl patterns 'look like a cubist interpretation of other snails with 'normal' shell shapes,' prompting researchers to name it after Picasso. 'This species looks like an Anauchen with rounded whorls painted in a Pablo Picasso -style resembling the art style known as Cubism,' scientists wrote in the study, published in the journal ZooKeys. Its brown, conical shell consists of 4.5–5 whorls separated by a deep suture, scientists say. There are several irregularly spaced whitish streaks crossing the shell's spiral. The research describes 46 new species of microsnails from Cambodia Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. These are tiny land snails with shell sizes less than 5 mm, found mostly in Southeast Asia, including former Indochina, Indonesia, and the Philippines, as well as parts of China. Their distribution extends further westwards, across India to Pakistan, with significantly reduced diversity. Researchers also propose a new method to classify snails by sorting them into similar groups based on overall shell shape, shell surface texture, and the arrangement of apertural barriers. Many of the new species were collected only recently, while several others were discovered in the collection of the Florida Museum of Natural History, having been collected in the 1980s. 'Although the shell sizes of these snails are less than 5 mm, they are real beauties! Their shells exhibit extraordinary complexity,' scientists say. 'For example, the aperture ('opening' of the shell) is armed with numerous tooth-like barriers, which are most probably useful against predators,' they explained. Several of the new species were found to have an aperture that turns either upwards or downwards, meaning some species carry their shells upside-down. Researchers were able to distinguish the different snails based on the apertural barriers and the orientation of the last whorl on the shell. Scientists caution that the locations where some of the snails were found in the 1980s may have already been destroyed by deforestation and limestone quarrying. The study highlights these major threats that locally endemic land snails face in Southeast Asia.
South China Morning Post
09-05-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Rare New Zealand snail caught on camera laying egg from its neck for the first time
The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were once shrouded in mystery. Now footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been captured for the first time, the country's conservation agency said on Wednesday. Advertisement What looks like a tiny hen's egg is seen emerging from an opening below the head of the Powelliphanta augusta snail, a threatened species endemic to New Zealand. The video was taken at a facility on the South Island's West Coast, where conservation rangers attempting to save the species from extinction have cared for a population of the snails in chilled containers for nearly two decades. The conditions in the containers mimic the alpine weather in their only former habitat – a remote mountain they were named for, on the West Coast of the South Island, that has been engulfed by mining. Lisa Flanagan from the Department of Conservation, who has worked with the creatures for 12 years, said the species still holds surprises. An egg laid by a Mount Augustus snail through its neck in Hokitika, New Zealand. Photo: New Zealand Department of Conservation/AFP 'It's remarkable that in all the time we've spent caring for the snails, this is the first time we've seen one lay an egg,' she said in a statement.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rare New Zealand snail is filmed for the first time laying an egg from its neck
The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were once shrouded in mystery. Now footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been captured for the first time, the country's conservation agency said Wednesday.
Arab News
09-05-2025
- Science
- Arab News
Rare New Zealand snail is filmed for the first time laying an egg from its neck
WELLINGTON: The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were once shrouded in mystery. Now footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been captured for the first time, the country's conservation agency said Wednesday. What looks like a tiny hen's egg is seen emerging from an opening below the head of the Powelliphanta augusta snail, a threatened species endemic to New Zealand. The video was taken at a facility on the South Island's West Coast, where conservation rangers attempting to save the species from extinction have cared for a population of the snails in chilled containers for nearly two decades. The conditions in the containers mimic the alpine weather in their only former habitat — a remote mountain they were named for, on the West Coast of the South Island, that has been engulfed by mining. Observing their habits Lisa Flanagan from the Department of Conservation, who has worked with the creatures for 12 years, said the species still holds surprises. 'It's remarkable that in all the time we've spent caring for the snails, this is the first time we've seen one lay an egg,' she said in a statement. Like other snails, Powelliphanta augusta are hermaphrodites, which explains how the creatures can reproduce when encased in a hard shell. The invertebrate uses a genital pore on the right side of its body, just below the head, to simultaneously exchange sperm with another snail, which is stored until each creates an egg. A long but slow reproductive life Each snail takes eight years to reach sexual maturity, after which it lays about five eggs a year. The egg can take more than a year to hatch. 'Some of our captive snails are between 25 and 30 years old,' said Flanagan. 'They're polar opposites to the pest garden snail we introduced to New Zealand, which is like a weed, with thousands of offspring each year and a short life.' The dozens of species and subspecies of Powelliphanta snails are only found in New Zealand, mostly in rugged forest and grassland settings where they are threatened by habitat loss. They are carnivores that slurp up earthworms like noodles, and are some of the world's largest snails , with oversized, distinctive shells in a range of rich earth colors and swirling patterns. A political storm The Powelliphanta augusta was the center of public uproar and legal proceedings in the early 2000s, when an energy company's plans to mine for coal threatened to destroy the snails' habitat. Some 4,000 were removed from the site and relocated, while 2,000 more were housed in chilled storage in the West Coast town of Hokitika to ensure the preservation of the species, which is slow to breed and doesn't adapt well to new habitats. In 2011, some 800 of the snails accidentally died in a Department of Conservation refrigerator with faulty temperature control. But the species' slow survival continues: In March this year, there were nearly 1,900 snails and nearly 2,200 eggs in captivity, the conservation agency said.
