Snails belong to the class of gastropods. This is the most numerous class belonging to a separate type of animal - molluscs. Gastropods include about 100,000 different species. In Russia, about 1620 species of all kinds of snails and slugs are known.
Do snails have teeth?
There are, but conditionally, since they are not located exactly as in most vertebrates. And not really teeth. These are the so-called radulas - chitinous bands on which there are thousands of chitinous "teeth". But these "teeth" do not bite through food, but scrape it off.
Predatory carnivorous snails use a special caustic liquid they produce before eating. This allows you to soften future food.
The fact is that the tongue of snails is a grater. It got its name precisely due to the fact that the snail scrapes off pieces of food, fish feces and other edible things with it. A grater tongue is an indispensable tool for grinding a particular food by snails. The same radula (chitinous tape) is located directly on the tongue. Often, a chitinous tape and a grater are combined into one and the same concept - language.
The ribbon radula is found in both carnivorous snails and slugs (naked snails) and herbivores. There is only one difference here: in different species of these mollusks, the chitinous tape has its own "dental" pattern.
How many teeth do snails have?
For a long time, science did not know how many teeth are in the mouth of snails. However, time does not stand still: scientists have conducted a number of studies and experiments with mollusks and found out how many teeth there are in the mouth of certain snails. It turns out that the American garden snail has 135 rows of tiny teeth on its chitinous band, each of which includes 105 teeth. If you count, then their total number will be equal to 14175. This snail is the absolute record holder for the number of teeth!
How do snail teeth work?
Snail teeth are mobile. Due to their certain movements, the mollusk pushes food into its mouth, scraping it off: the food is slowly but surely pushed into the snail's esophagus. The tongue (chitinous tape) of mollusks grinds food quite effectively, but not without losses for the snail itself. The fact is that her small teeth are constantly and in large quantities forced to wear off.
The oyster auger snail is carnivorous. Her way of eating cannot be confused with anyone else: she drills the shell of an oyster and greedily scoops her meat out with her tongue.
It is worth noting that for molluscs, worn-out teeth are not a problem at all. The fact is that their teeth grow constantly and rather quickly. In principle, such regeneration in the oral cavity of the snail resembles the constantly renewing teeth of sharks.
