Hydrobia ulvae

Enclosure of the commons mud snail

The common mud snail ( " Peringia ulvae ", formerly " Hydrobia ulvae ") is a species of snail from the order of Littorinimorpha.

Features

The housing is hochkonisch and up to 9 mm high. It has seven whorls only slightly convex Windungsflanken. The seam is relatively flat, the umbilicus narrow. The opening is oval, slightly pointed top and has a sharp edge.

Occurrence, distribution and life

The common mud snail lives in the mudflats of northern and western Baltic Sea, but also on the coasts of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In the south, the range extends to Senegal. You get there in very large populations on sandy soils, less often on algae or in burrows of ground- living animals, where they green algae ( Ulva lactuca, name!), Eat diatoms and bacteria. On a square meter watt can live up to 50,000 watts snails.

Watt snails show a dependent from the changing of the tides behavior. In any accrued flood to the worm baste with the walk up to the water surface, drift away and form a slime tape on which sticks their food. At the onset of low tide they drop and remain lying on the sand until they are on dry land. Then, a second phase of the foraging begins, this time from the sandy bottom. After some time they will bury themselves in the sand and wait for the tide.

Because of their large presence very much feces and mucus is produced, which stick the sand. This allows it to be less well transported by the flow. In addition, the deposition of new sand on the sticky pad is favored.