SPECIES ID / Invertebrates

Snails

Q’oyátliye

• Mollusc with a single shell, usually coiled

• Prominent head with a pair of elongate tentacles, rasping teeth and muscular foot

• 500 species in 15 families in North America

Two main types:

Gilled snails that obtain oxygen from water using a gill inside the shell
Pouch snails that obtain oxygen from air or water using a lung-like structure inside the shell

Gilled Snails

Pouch Snails

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Primary Information Source:
Voshell, J. Reese. 2002. A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company. Blacksburg, Virginia.