Micro snails

[brunni]

Welcome to the wonderful world of micro snails. Visit :
opisthostoma.lifedesks.org/user/13

Most of these snails are around 1mm in size and the photos are made with SEM ( Scanning Electron Microscope ). Thats about the size of a speck of dust.
There are over 20 different species and they mostly live in Malaysia.
Suitable for pet owners on a budget, but be careful if you sneeze.
Worry-free : if they escape/die/get sick you probably won't even notice.
The tricky part is when you have to incubate their eggs.

Image courtesy drawing by J.J. Vermeulen
[

[Greta]

What a wonderful snail wish it would be bigger though she's amazing the website is really nice

[ness]

Brunni you're a star. I love your contributions!

Well those photos are wonderful, the shell shapes amazing! Nature is such a fantastic thing, never fails to amaze me.

I never knew such snails existed.

[coyote]

1 mm? Good grief, be careful with sneezing indeed!

[brunni]

One of these minute snails, only discover a couple of years ago, has been found to have the most complex system of coiling among all land snails of the world. 38 specimens were analyzed to find that they all coil EXACTLY in the same way, changing the pattern of coiling 4 times at the same stages of growth. It is called Opisthostoma vermiculum and the photo below is courtesy of Reuben Clements.

Thats two different shells, side by side, in the pic.
And the scale bar is ONE TENTH of a MILLIMETER ! Like I said, don't sneeze around these guys.
Here is what the New York Times had to say about this miniature wonder :
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/science/15obshel.html

[Greta]

OMG they are incredible 1 10 th jeez how did they even find these guys they are just unbelievable gosh I'm speechless

[brunni]

I was wondering same thing, how you find such a tiny creature in the open ? The article did not state but gives an ominous clue :
Because of the collection technique, none of the actual snails survived; so nothing is known about them...............

[brunni]

Could have been the MEN IN BLACK ?

[Greta]

Lol!!! Maybe?? I really don't know they are very tiny snails maybe they some camera to help them to find these guys I'm guessing really

[coyote]

That is a complicated shell (and a beautiful one as well). It will be interesting if someone can figure out the advantage to the snail of having such a curvy shell.

I found it no surprise that they were found in a limestone-rich area of Malaysia. Snails won't do well in areas low in sources of calcium.

[iloncia]

Wow, what beautiful structures. I would love to know, what an actual snail, that lives in this shell looks like.

[latebloomer]

The first ones look like temples but people couldn't have used them for inspiration to design termples they are too small to see. All this wonder below the threshold of human senses. Incredible.

[brunni]

OK, I got a survival theory for why this tiny, crazy Opisthostoma vermiculum shell is shaped like it is. Ready ?
See the big circular bit round the middle is like an inner tube, keeps it afloat if there's too much rain. The squirly whorls above this make it top heavy, so they flip the shell upside down when its floating in water. Now the aperture is high and dry, sticking out the water so the snail can breath. And Captain Snail can bail out any remaining water, get his GPS co-ordingates and set sail for land . Neat, Huh ? ;D

[Greta]

Cool!! The snail as no problems when it comes to survival

[coyote]

That's a very interesting theory, brunni.

[satchellwk]

These micro snails are amazing little creatures.
The second snail you posted bears a striking resemblance to prehistoric ammonites known as nipponites.
Fossil:
www.christies.com/lotfinder/ZoomImage.aspx?image=/LotFinderImages/D51908/D5190858
Recreation:
farm6.static.flickr.com/5139/5398098618_0f67538d48.jpg
I really like your hypothesis for the strange shape, and It makes me wonder if the nipponites, the snails' distant marine ancestor, might have used the shell the same way, except to float and keep the head underwater.

[brunni]

Love this micro! So fragile in parts, then sneaking up round the back, encompassing all the early whorls of the spire and forming a big fat aperture.
Reminds me of those guys marching along at the back of a brass band, playing the tuba ( or is it a sousaphone ? ) !



Name : Opisthostoma grandispinosa Godwin-Austen, 1889

Length : around 2mm
Acknowledgement : opisthostoma.lifedesks.org/user/13
photo : courtesy Liew, Thor-Seng

This little guy is one of the first from this family to be described ( well over 100 years ago !)

PS : sorry about the quality of the image, here in tiger land there are limitations with the server, or it could be imageshack wanting an upgrade ?.........see under 4 a better image !

[ness]

Fascinating wee beasties they are. They do look like something that someone's just invented

[coyote]

They do look like sousaphones, don't they? A very interesting little snail.

[brunni]

let me have another shot at uploading a better image



this is a drawback of living in tiger land !

[coyote]

They are even more amazing in such detail! They look like they could be alien creatures.

[vallery]

Your so right coyote they do look like alien creatures. How odd yet beautiful.

[brunni]

Here's a specimen of Opisthostoma mirable from Gomatong Cave, Sabah, Borneo. Size ca. 3mm. Photo courtesy Rafflesia.

[coyote]

These are mind-boggling.

[rosiesnail2]

wow that's really incredible. I should get some you'd need loads of microscopes or magnified glasses