True albinos?

[danikat]

I'm not sure if anyone will be able to give a definitive answer to this since Wikipedia seems to suggest that the only way to know for sure is genetic research but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Are albino snails true albino's or is it just an easily recogniseable name? The reason I ask is that as I understand it albinism(sp?) is an almost complete lack of melanin (skin pigment) whereas all the albino snails I've seen have normal coloured shells and it's only the body that's white, which would imply that it's caused by something different, probably just another (almost certinally recessive) variation of the normal gene(s) for body colour.

I know it's not a big difference but I'd be interested in finding out.

[coyote]

I know very little about genetics, so I hope someone else with some knowledge on this subject will chime in here and share what they know.

[aerliss]

The colour of snail shells is partially down to diet and partially down to genetics, whereas skin colour is completely down to genetics (they don't tan... right?). As far as I understand it, there are two types of albinism in snails; skin colour and shell colour. You can get snails with albino bodies, albino bodies and shells or just albino shells (actually, I've not seen any images of the latter).

I don't think the genes that control shell colouration are linked to skin pigmentation in the same way that mammal and bird genes for eye, skin and hair colour are linked... but that's a guess.

Gosh, this is all so fascinating. Wish I had the time and resources to dedicate to more snail related research.

[wolf]

Hi,
John A. Allen did some work on the inheritance of shell colour polymorphism (papers of 1983 and 1985), including Achatina fulica hamillei f. rodatzi Dunker 1852. Some people call f. rodatzi a "shell albino", but it´s interesting that Allen is very carefull. He doesn´t talk of albinism, but of "streaked" vs. "unstreaked" forms. This might be wise until we know more about the different pigments that can be inplemented into the shell. Unfortunately, the definition of albinism in invertebrates is kind of tricky yet.
Kind regards: wolf

[coyote]

Thanks for that information, wolf.

[danikat]

Thanks for the info.

Does anyone actually research this kind of thing? I find it amazing that GALs were apparently one of the first animals to be farmed and they're kept as pets in many places and yet we know so little about them.

[wolf]

Hi,
I don´t know any actual research program on genetics of the Achatinidae family, but some other families have been investigated in the last years (for example concerning the genus Polymita and Partula). Research depends on money (and time) , and that´s the problem. But in some cases interested non-professionals can improve our knowledge step by step……… .
Kind regards: wolf