The largest land mollusk species is the Achatina snail. One of the Achatina specimens, weighing about half a kilogram, is listed in the Guinness Book.
Achatina snails, which are common on the African continent, are unpretentious in food. They can eat animal excrement, decomposing plant parts, and various impurities. Thus, the Achatins can be called natural cleaners. At home, Achatins eat all types of meat and various herbs.
Structural features
The shell of the Achatina snail reliably protects the body from damage, drying, and enemy attacks. The terminal swelling of the tentacles is responsible for the sense of smell. The snail can sense chemical odors at a distance of about 4 cm. The soles of the tentacles act as organs of touch. African snails do not have a hearing or vocal apparatus. But they are characterized by all conditioned reflexes.
Achatina feed on the tongue, which has many horny spines. The tongue is rough, somewhat reminiscent of a cat. The lungs of the mollusk are represented by a fold of skin pierced with capillaries. The speed of movement of the Achatins is very low. They are able to crawl only 1 cm in a minute. These mollusks have light-sensitive cells on their bodies. Therefore, they perceive light not only with their own eyes, but also with the whole body. Too bright light of African snails is annoying.
Reproduction
Achatina are hermaphrodites by nature. Usually, the adult sex is the female, and the younger is the male. For the birth of new offspring, adults and small snails are settled in the terrarium. Giant snails are ready to reproduce offspring, starting from six months of age. Many individuals take longer to reach sexual maturity, up to a year. It depends on the climate in which the mollusk lives. The embryo can develop from several hours to two weeks. The emerging snails feed on the remains of their eggs. African snails live for about 5 years. It happened that the age of the Achatins in captivity reached 10 years.
The use of shellfish in cosmetology
African snails secrete a unique secret that is a natural antioxidant. It has anti-aging, regenerating and antibacterial properties. Women of different ages use Achatina to solve all kinds of skin problems: wrinkles, scars, acne, stretch marks, cuts. Cosmetological procedures using African snails are not very cheap. You can use snails for rejuvenation on your own at home, without visiting a beautician's office.
