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Project Noah Nature School
Oxychilus sp.
This snail was about 7mm across the shell. Bluish body and foot.
Found with sac spiders under a garden stone.
From Dr Adnan Mousalli, Victoria Museum - "..this is clearly a species within the genus Oxychilus (common name being glass snails). There are three potential species and they are all introduced, namely O. alliarius, O. cellarius and O. draparnaudi. Unfortunately, they are very similar and hard to tell apart from a photo (for me anyway), O. alliarius being the smallest of the three ~5-7 mm, and has the common garlic glass snails as it excretes mucus smelling strongly of garlic. This species in particular is also know to be carnivorous and can have a major impact on the local fauna. Based on my own experience these guys can reach extremely high numbers and can "totally" decimate the local molluscan (and most probably, small invertebrate) community - southwestern Australian and southwestern Africa are good examples, and recently I am told, Lord Howe Island!!!. Further research needs to be done on this beast - something I hope to take on once all this genomic stuff settles."
Spotted on Aug 21, 2014
Submitted on Aug 21, 2014
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