#snail shells

[snailspng]

Snail shell PNGs.

[corythesaxon]

Other pictures from snake road.

The tree had a nose.

[creepi-beesti]

Can’t go outside cause I’m rotting festering dying ill, and also there’s a half meter of snow outside so here are some pics I took of the outside world in the before times <3

[colorsoutofearth]

Collection of Cuban tree snail (Polymita picta) empty shells

Photo by Bruno D'Amicis

[objecthusbandry]

i’ve been trying to think of random objects that i could ask about. . . there’s SO MANY !! all of them are so interesting hhhhh

how about shells? C:

— ☕️🪶anon

shells are a very interesting group of objects - they're a common example of just how impressive the mimicry of animals in objects is. each species mimics almost perfectly a different type of mollusk. they mainly eat soft-bodied invertebrates such as grubs, worms and the like, including the creatures they mimic. they sometimes carry small rocks to aid in cracking the shells of animals to consume their soft innards, including eggs. while there are a few terrestrial species, most shell objects are semi-aquatic and can be found near beaches - their fingers and toes are webbed to accommodate for this environment.

in antiquity shell objects were frequently believed to be born after the mollusk that originally inhabited the shell died. obviously this is not the case, as is now understood. mates are usually selected based on their colors, with more complex patterns being more favored. litters will contain on average five babies, up to seven at the maximum. siblings often resemble each other but may be entirely different colors. they reach maturity quickly at around two and a half months. as newborns their bodies are rather soft, hardening over time for about two weeks when they reach their proper firmness. this is when they're most vulnerable, so mothers are extremely protective for the first couple weeks of their babies' lives.

much like the animals they resemble, shell objects leave their hardened bodies behind after death. seashell collectors absolutely love these objects for this and it's common to find them near shores, where they often wash up on beaches. while they can be kept as pets, they're not domesticated and require very large glass tanks in captivity. i wouldn't recommend keeping one, personally, but it is possible for them to lead happy lives as pets.

[crudlynaturephotos]

[ryderdire]

I miss my snail shell collection

[adhd-creativity]

Some pages from my mini sketch book

[haikuckuck]

Handpaint on white Ludwigsburg porcelain tumbler,true gold and snail shells,floral graphics,violet

[electricnik]

Going retro. I was tidying up in the garden and found this shell that had a leopard slug living inside it.

[magictablecloth]

๑ï Snail Shell Specimens : : Photos via : : Pinterest & Flickr

[aris-has-a-paracosm]

The Snanchers!!! SlimeidarityGaming and Tangastropod were both successful in their mission of seek and destroy, and I needed to draw them.

(But then again, I’ll take any excuse to draw snails. I love drawing snails)

[smithsonianlibraries]

Sea snail shells from Jaochim Spalowsky's Prodromus in systema historicum testaceorum (1795). Full text here.

[inkprilled]

Do the people we drift away from ever return to us.

When my parents spilt up I didn't see my dad for months, during this time I would spend nearly every day playing with my friend Kelsey. We would get our hair caught climbing trees or make terrible perfume from her neighbours flowers. One time she pulled out a box from under her bed, it was filled with snails of different sizes collected from her garden "we're going to colour the shells". So that's what we did, we gently coloured around 20 in bright orange, red or purple, after that we put them near a tree by her house. We did all this to see if the same ones would come back, we thought at least 5 would. Weeks went by and we didn't see any colourful shells in her garden, they had moved on. Sometimes people leave and they don't come back, but you still hold the memories close, you still carry their mark on you and maybe they carry yours too.

Maybe somewhere out there, there are snails with brightly coloured shells and maybe carrying a piece of someone with you is enough.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Green Shell Semi-Slug: the researchers who discovered this species originally wanted to name it "Ibycus felis," because it often rests with its tail curled around its body, which reminded them of a sleeping cat

The Latin name of this species is Ibycus rachelae, but it's also known as a green-shelled or long-tailed semi-slug. The species was first described in 2008, and it is found only in the montane forests of Sabah (Borneo) and Peninsular Malaysia.

The term "semi-slug" refers to an intermediate stage of evolution as a snail evolves into a slug. These snails still have shells that are at least partially visible, but they have been reduced to the point where the shell can no longer accommodate the snail's whole body. There are many different species of semi-slug, but most of them have a noticeably reduced, receding, and/or transparent shell that is partially concealed beneath the mantle.

This article describes another peculiar characteristic of semi-slugs (including Ibycus rachelae):

... semi-slugs don’t just look weird, they act weird, too. They employ sharp projectiles called love darts in their courtship rituals, by shooting several of them at a prospective mate. The mate, in turn, shoots several love darts right back.

Researchers have found that if semi-slugs are able to lodge love darts into one another, the subsequent copulation tends to be much more successful. It’s thought that the mucus distributed by the love dart ensures greater survivability of the sperm

This is what the "love darts" look like (when magnified under SEM):

The tiny, harpoon-like structures are made of calcium carbonate, and they transmit certain hormones (via mucus) that help to increase the likelihood of reproductive success. Semi-slugs are not the only gastropods that use "love darts," however; they are also used by some other land snails and slugs.

Sources & More Info:

World Wildlife Fund: Borneo's New World (PDF)

Basteria (Journal): The Slugs and Semislugs of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (PDF)

Forest Research Institute Malaysia: Introduction to the Land Snails and Slugs of Malaysia (PDF)

Malay Peninsular Terrestrial Molluscs: Ibycus rachelae

Live Science: World's Longest Bug and 'Ninja' Slug Discovered in Borneo

Australian Geographic: Meet the Semi-Slug, a Snail without a Home

[leafdoodles]

44 x Gem?

I really like the snails :]