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Candy Cane Snail
Description
Candy Cane snails have a very colorful shell. Their shells reach 30 to 60mm. They mostly feed on moss, fungi and algae. They are also called as Roman snails or Escargots. Candy canes are adorable molluscs with tiny eyestalks and tentacle feelers to sense their surroundings. They move slowly by contracting the foot muscle which is most of their lower body. The beautiful colors in their shells are produced by pigment glands in the mantle. Their shell surface is smooth and shiny. They are one of the most colorful gastropods in the world. Early European explorers to Hispaniola brought shells of Candy cane snail back to Europe, and it has been in scientific illustrations since 1684, it was the first neotropical land snail witch was scientifically illustrated. Candy Cane snail's tongue membrane is long and broad with about two hundred rows of teeth. Its jaw is slightly arched and is composed of fourteen different plates.
Classification
Scientific name - Liguus virgineus
Order - Stylommatophora
Family - Orthalicidae
Kingdom - Animalia
Class - Gastropoda
Phylum - Mollusca
Genus - Liguus
Distribution
These species are native to Caribbean island of Hispaniola, east of Cuba, It is arboreal and has been found on the branches of the tree.
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Candy cane snail have both sets of reproductive organs. Which means they are hermaphroditic. Though it spend most of its life in trees, it comes down to land to lay its eggs in the moist soil, Upon hatching, the young snails climb up the tree to spend their lives in the trees. Even though they are herbivorous in unfavorable conditions they've been known to commit cannibalism. They are very harmless and cute animals.
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Shells of these candy cane snails are beautiful and exotic, for years they have been over harvested for the shell craft trade. The destruction of the forest habitat and the commercial over collecting could lead to extinction of these species. That is why harvesting and selling these shells is forbidden by the law. Even though selling and harvesting their shells are forbidden by the law, people still do it. My advice is to stop hurting innocent animals such as these creatures.
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