Snail age?

[taira]

I dug around a bit but I'm not sure I found a clear explanation.. Is there a way to identify a snail's age? I'm guessing it would be something by counting whorls or somehow by the shell?
It really bothers me that I have no clue how old my Adrian is. I found him on the street so there's no way to know haha. I'm sure by his size that he's a normal adult but other than that, I'm clueless.
Here's some pics if it helps..


(I know he has holes, I found him like that, I'm taking care and he's a good boy, eating his calcium, one hole was much bigger now it's getting sooo much better and visibly healing)



Also once for all I wish I could figure out if he's lucorum, aspersa or pomatia but that is now specie and identification and that goes in another place of the forum so I hope just age talk isn't against rules or wrong place, apologies if so :3

[snailpers0n]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think that is a garden snail due to the shell shape and color of their body.
This is a very good question, one I have been wondering for a while too, lets see if someone can tell us

[snailpers0n]

BTW, holding a snail like that is not okay.
It could cause either mantle collapse, or just scaring the snail (or both).

[taira]

I know, that was very brief for the picture sake. From what I understood for identifications and similar things, like my age question, you should take clear detailed photos from.. well, technically every possible angle lol. I dont like holding him like that, he doesn't look happy with it either, and we both get confused when he like, tries crawling on himself? Oof 🤦‍♀️

[snailpers0n]

well, I think you could still take pictures of the bottom if he was crawling on the glass of the terrarium.

[taira]

You're right. Just it was in the middle of his walk, bath, full cleaning of his "house" so I guess multitasking got the better of me. I'm never really holding him for the shell at all, always letting him crawl at his convenience haha. Also given it's still recovering from holes and a crack, just avoiding touching the shell whatsoever.
Ignoring that super fresh carrot like a king was his revenge I'd say 😂

[Rasplutin]

This is NOT a "garden snail" if that's a term for Cornu aspersum.
For me, Shell and structure of the body make it very likely a Helix pomatia.

The problem is that Helix lucorum can look very similiar.

I think it's very likely a Helix pomatia, less likely but still possible a Helix lucorum and definately not a Cornu aspersum.

Guessing the age is difficult, approx. two years. That is by comparing the snails's size with the Helix pomatias I keep. I do not know if there is a scientific way to determine a snail's age...

[taira]

Pity, I thought there IS some way.. Ofc I can always ask him how old are you but.. I don't think he'll grace me with an answer.. 😂 My only concern is not to be too old and up and die on me some day out of the blank haha. But if it is somewhere around 2 years, that's pretty good, right? From what I know snails have a considerable lifespan, 20 years? I've heard some can go even nearly 30, but I think it was some particular specie.
Speaking of species, thank you! It can be a little confusing because I'm still familiarising myself with the purely scientific side of snails so.. yeah. Obviously, he's the most usual, common, generic snail haha and I understood pomatia are probably the most common, or at least in my area geographically, soo just wanted to make sure To me he'll always be a special snail :3 Aren't they always to us though hehe ❤️

[wolf]

Hi taira,

since your snail is from Bulgaria, things are a little bit complicated. There are several species of Helix in Bulgaria looking rather similar to your specimen, so it is difficult to decide.
Rasplutin is (as always) right: it is surely not Cornu aspersum. I'm quite sure that it ain't Helix lucorum, either.

Species of Helix occurring in Bulgaria:       (H = hight, W = width)

Helix figulina ROSSMÄSSLER 1839 (Size usually 21-27 (H) x 20-26 (W) mm, large shells 29-31 x 29-30 mm).
Helix lucorum LINNAEUS 1758
Helix pomacella MOUSSON 1854 (Size 21-26,5 (H) x 22-27,5 (W) mm).
Helix pomatia LINNAEUS 1758
Helix vulgaris ROSSMÄSSLER 1839 (Size: 27-36 (H) x 30-38 (W) mm).

Adult specimens of all species mentionend tend to bend the margin of the aperture a little bit outwards (more or less).
I think that Helix figulina, Helix pomacella and Helix vulgaris come rather close to your specimen (concerning the banding pattern),  especially H. vulgaris (but that's not a serious determination!).

Kind regards: wolf

[Rasplutin]

wolf reminded me that snail things usually are more complicated than I think they are.

taira, a few years ago someone pointed me to this fantastic .pdf:

"Revision of Helix LINNAEUS, 1758 in its eastern Mediterranean distribution area, and reassignment of Helix godetiana KOBELT, 1878 to Maltzanella HESSE, 1917 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Helicidae)"
download here (PDF, 9.1 MB)

It shows shells of Helix-species and their geographical distribution areas and could help in identifying your snail.
Or it may show how hopelessly confusing things are.

[wolf]

Hi all,

concerning the malacofauna of Bulgaria (including Helix spp., of course) see:

IRIKOV, A. & ERÖSS, Z. (2008): An Updated and annotated checklist of Bulgarian terrestrial gastropods (Mollusca: Gastropoda). – Folia Malacologica, 16 (4): 197-205. Poznań.

Best of luck ;-)

Kind regards: wolf

Edit: many thanks for the link, Rasplutin. I've looked it up in the paper you cited: IRIKOV, A. & ERÖSS, Z. (2008) have a different opinion about Helix albescens and Helix vulgaris. They write: "Helix albescens and H. philibinensis – till now in Bulgaria were considered collectively under the name Helix vulgaris." Therefore I didn't mention Helix albescens in my check list above.

It happens so often: three people with five opinions.

[taira]

Ooh, thank you! That's a lot of detail.. and diversity, I'm actually surprised. I thought over here we have just like 2-3 species at best and more variety is in the more exotic places in the world. You've given me some really good info to go on reasearching from, thanks again
It didn't occur to me to literally measure him but thankfully he was in the mood to crawl on a straight line by a ruler haha so throwing in a couple of "measurement" pics in case it helps more accurately.
As well as weight. Don't laugh, I actually am weighing him on my jewelry scale almost every day, mostly just for health monitoring, I think he's doing well.

When I got him he was barely 13 grams, now he's getting well fed and FAT 3 weeks he's reached 15.73-4 and headed to 16 hahaha I don't know what could a snail find much for food in a city but in my care, he's getting the best and cleanest vegetables and greenery. I have the habit of spoiling my pets very much haha same was with my cat of 15 years, rest his furballs, if I can provide a "cornucopia of plenty" I sure don't hesitate doing so

Thanks again for the links, references and in-depth information, and I'm off to dive into more scientificy snail research~
It's fascinating, especially with small creatures that people usually take for granted or worse, don't even notice.

[wolf]

Hi,

several internet pages (including WoRMS, f.e.) tell us, that the term Helix vulgaris is not accepted, because it is only a synonym of Helix albescens.

Great, so I have learned something new........... .

Best wishes: wolf

[wolf]

Hi taira,
in the case of shelled gastropods there are some conventions in telling the "size" of a shell (the largeness of the soft parts is irrelevant in this case). There is a "height" of a shell and a "width", both are perpendicular to each other. Both are streight lines, not bent/curved. The hight runs from the highest point of the shell (the "apex") down to the deepest point of the opening (called "aperture"). The width runs from the left-most margin of the shell to the right-most margin (compare with figure).
i.postimg.cc/TYDD7v3d/Height-Width.jpg

1: top of the shell = apex; 2: whorl; 3: join = sutura; 4: last whorl; 5: opening = apertura; 6: spindle = columella; 7: margin of the apertura.

Have a nice time: wolf

[wolf]

Hi,

85% for Helix albescens . I have identified my very similar looking specimens from Bulgaria as Helix cf. albescens.

Kind regards: wolf

[taira]

Wolf, thank you yet again! I was trying to narrow my suspicions towards albescens as well but I often get lost with the colours and patterns. Nature is so playful, what endless varieties it makes its creatures, honestly! I stop on something, then I read another and I'm like, wait, the sizes definitely are this but wait, the patterns, but then the colours.. or the colour of the body.. the direction of the stripy parts.. aaaa XD I'm seeing spirals everywhere now 😂

Also I'm not omitting the possibility it can be some niche subspecies or variety, or some obscure not much documented mix.. There are just..So. Many. The more I'm trying to narrow it down, the more varieties turn up. Ohdear XD No wonder people spend years in university studying zoology and then even more years specifically for gastropods and mollusks. Epic respect, seriously!

On a side note, while digging about local species, I accidentally came across a
very curious article here
(pardon the horrendous machine translation, Bulgarian has a sadistically complicated grammar so swapping to English is a bit whacky but I thought better than slamming a whole chonk of text in alien Cyrillic lol)
Now, although they're talking about farming snails as for food and I hate seeing them treated like that in piles and all, what impressed me is that this cape Kaliakra is a popular historical and tourist place very close to my town; and secondly, all the talk about opening a SNAIL MUSEUM. What? XD I'm very perked curious now, just I'm not managing to find anything more detailed on that 🤔 even if its 4 years old. I got excited at the idea that there might be somewhere I can actually go with Adrian and talk to some specialist about species and all. 
Strayed me a little from the initial research but I'm adding it in my list as a side curiosity to dig more into when I can.

Additionally, recently I got also this little fellow on my hands





but I'm not even starting on him yet as I'm sure it will be a whole 'nother story there and I'm still concentrated to solving Adrian's mystery lol. For the moment that's just.. Untitled The Snail With Eyeliner. 😂

[wolf]

Hi taira,

thanks for the infos and the link. A friend of mine was in Bulgaria this summer and gave me some shells and a tiny piece of "snail soap" (I didn't ask her to do so).

Yes, true enough, sometimes snail species identification is hell of a job. In some cases a sure identification needs a genital morphology (dissection), sometimes even molecular genetics.

Concerning your little snail: perhaps you can compare with genus Cattania (some authors put the Bulgarian species in the genus Helicigona). There are several species of this kind in Bulgaria inlcuding the Black Sea shore.

Have a nice time and happy research : wolf