There are over 2500 species of native Australian snails and slugs with many still unclassified. The Western Australian species mostly belong to two families: Bothriembryon and Camaenidae. Camaenidae are found in the more northern and eastern regions while the majority of Bothriembryon species are limited to mesic south-western Western Australia.
We have several local snails in the area and some are in quite short supply, many being on Vulnerable with eight species (17%) listed as threatened on IUCN Red List (2018), 7 of these SWWA species, many with short distributional ranges.
Our native snails are found in just about any habitat but will never become garden/agricultural pests because they cannot digest the cellulose in plant material. Instead they dine on micro-fungi. Most of the snails and slugs we find in our gardens are not natives.
We have several local snails in the area and some are in quite short supply, many being on Vulnerable with eight species (17%) listed as threatened on IUCN Red List (2018), 7 of these SWWA species, many with short distributional ranges.
Our native snails are found in just about any habitat but will never become garden/agricultural pests because they cannot digest the cellulose in plant material. Instead they dine on micro-fungi. Most of the snails and slugs we find in our gardens are not natives.
Fun fact: Endemic land and freshwater aquatic snails are the perfect indicator species for monitoring environmental change. Known as the GRiMRI’S, an acronym for Gondwanan Relictual Moist Refugia Indicator Species, these mysterious creatures have a lot to reveal. If we have these snails present in our environment, we most likely have a healthy area.
The WA Museum needs your help!
Snail Snap is an exciting citizen science project that aims to help document our beloved native land snail genus Bothriembryon. It runs during the cold, wet winter months (June-August) when the snails emerge from the ground and become active. It is the best time to find them crawling around! But even finding shells is valuable, particularly in remote areas!
Submit your own sighting or just learn more here: www.inaturalist.org/projects/snail-snap-2024?tab=species
By submitting your snail snaps you might even discover a new species of ‘Bothriembryon’. Many are yet to be found!
Ready to snap?
1. Download the iNaturalist app from the App Store or Google Play.
2. Take a photo of a land snail (or even just a shell) you’ve seen. Upload as many photos as you’d like.
3. Add it to the 'Snail Snap 2024' project in the app for identification by our WA Museum Scientists. But if you can't find the project, don’t worry! Upload it to the app and your photo will make its way there if it's a ‘Bothriembryon'.
4. Become a member of our 'Snap Snap 2024' project in the app to stay up-to-date.
Download on Apple: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/inaturalist/id421397028
Download on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details...
Submit your own sighting or just learn more here: www.inaturalist.org/projects/snail-snap-2024?tab=species
By submitting your snail snaps you might even discover a new species of ‘Bothriembryon’. Many are yet to be found!
Ready to snap?
1. Download the iNaturalist app from the App Store or Google Play.
2. Take a photo of a land snail (or even just a shell) you’ve seen. Upload as many photos as you’d like.
3. Add it to the 'Snail Snap 2024' project in the app for identification by our WA Museum Scientists. But if you can't find the project, don’t worry! Upload it to the app and your photo will make its way there if it's a ‘Bothriembryon'.
4. Become a member of our 'Snap Snap 2024' project in the app to stay up-to-date.
Download on Apple: https://apps.apple.com/au/app/inaturalist/id421397028
Download on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details...
Introduced Snails
Introduced snail species arrived accidentally in Australia on potted plants, or stuck to packing cases, pallets, and shipping containers. A few species seem to have been deliberately smuggled in to be bred and eaten as delicacies. Unlike other exotic species, there is no evidence to suggest that these 'immigrant' snails have affected the survival of Australia's native snail fauna. In fact, most of these introduced snails invade places only after humans have destroyed the habitat of native snails.
Over 65 land and freshwater snails and slugs have been introduced to Australia from overseas. But only a few of these have become pests.
The common garden snail, Helix aspersa, has been in Australia for well over 120 years. Today, it is by far the most widespread of all our introduced species, existing in all states and territories. These snails live in non-tropical areas and avoid desert country. In Europe, predators such as thrushes and blackbirds keep Helix populations in check and cold winters limit their breeding to warmer months of the year. In Australia, warm winters allow Helix to breed for most of the year, and the lack of predators have led to it becoming a major pest.
The white Italian snail, Theba pisana, is probably the most well-known pest of Australian agricultural crops. Native to the Mediterranean, it was first found in Western Australia early this century and is now very common throughout southern Australia. It climbs the stems of cereal crops in late spring and summer and seals itself to the stems during dry spells. It is then harvested with the crop, clogging machinery and contaminating the grain. Theba can also destroy crops of dried fruit, lucerne, clover, peas, beans and oil seed.
See more about the identification and control of pest slugs and snails for broadacre crops in Western Australia and the control method available www.agric.wa.gov.au/grains/identification-and-control-pest-slugs-and-snails-broadacre-crops-western-australia
Over 65 land and freshwater snails and slugs have been introduced to Australia from overseas. But only a few of these have become pests.
The common garden snail, Helix aspersa, has been in Australia for well over 120 years. Today, it is by far the most widespread of all our introduced species, existing in all states and territories. These snails live in non-tropical areas and avoid desert country. In Europe, predators such as thrushes and blackbirds keep Helix populations in check and cold winters limit their breeding to warmer months of the year. In Australia, warm winters allow Helix to breed for most of the year, and the lack of predators have led to it becoming a major pest.
The white Italian snail, Theba pisana, is probably the most well-known pest of Australian agricultural crops. Native to the Mediterranean, it was first found in Western Australia early this century and is now very common throughout southern Australia. It climbs the stems of cereal crops in late spring and summer and seals itself to the stems during dry spells. It is then harvested with the crop, clogging machinery and contaminating the grain. Theba can also destroy crops of dried fruit, lucerne, clover, peas, beans and oil seed.
See more about the identification and control of pest slugs and snails for broadacre crops in Western Australia and the control method available www.agric.wa.gov.au/grains/identification-and-control-pest-slugs-and-snails-broadacre-crops-western-australia
We acknowledge the Minang and Koreng people as the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to the Elders, past, present, and emerging and to the wider Noongar community.
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