• Question: what is the biggest snail in the world

    Asked by jackh13 to Dilwar, Lou, Rachel, Simon, Susan on 12 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Rachel Dakin

      Rachel Dakin answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      One of the biggest snail species is the Giant African Land Snail. I worked at Glasgow Science Centre for a while and we had 4 lovely specimens living there. We kept their environment pretty warm and dry – like Africa, but they loved sliding in to a bucket of water!
      I was once discussing the snails with a visitor and they told me there is a really large sea snail too.

    • Photo: Simon Langley-Evans

      Simon Langley-Evans answered on 12 Nov 2013:

      Rachel is right- there is a giant sea snail as well. It is called a Triton and is very different to land snails. Land snails are vegetarian, but Tritons are predators that feed on starfish. The biggest Triton is called the Giant Triton and has a shell that is 40 cm!!! across.

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