![]() In an effort to control this invasive snail’s growing population, another species was introduced to the island a decade later: the rosy wolfsnail ( Euglandina rosea), also known as the cannibal snail. Some of the snails escaped, howeverm, bred rapidly, and began eating away at crops on local farmland. ![]() In 1967, the French Polynesian government allowed the giant African land snail to be imported and used as a human food source on islands of the South Pacific, including Tahiti. Partula snails went extinct in the wild because of another snail species-or rather, two. Every month to six weeks, the snail births a single offspring, which will reach sexual maturity in three to six months. 08 inches when they’re born-about the size of a ballpoint pen tip. This species gives birth to live young, which are a mere. If it cannot find a partner, the snail can self-fertilize to reproduce. This snail is a hermaphrodite with both female and male sexual organs. When it rains, the Partula snail comes out at night to eat and mate. Before it became extinct in the wild, the snail was a valuable asset to its ecosystem due to its ability to recycle nutrients from plant debris and support plant respiration. It spends most of its time grazing on decayed plants and microscopic plants that it finds on larger flora. Being a detritivore, the snail gets its nutrients primarily from eating rotted vegetation. This land snail often sticks under the stems and undersides of leaves. The valleys and moist forests of Tahiti in the South Pacific are ideal habitats for the Partula snail. Beige- and cream-colored stripes cover the snail’s spiraled shell, which protects the snail from predators and prevents it from drying out. The mucus also lubricates the snail and contains a special protein that absorbs moisture. A gland in the snail’s foot secretes a mucus that creates slime trails, which help the snail glide across and stick to surfaces. Its body-most of it a muscular foot-is bumpy and brown, and its antenna-like eyes are almost translucent. This tiny snail is not much bigger than a pencil eraser. This particular species was once a common sight in Tahiti, but now the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers it extinct in the wild as the snail is primarily found in captivity (a few have been reintroduced into the wild, however, and further efforts to reintroduce the snail to its native range are underway). Least Concern Extinct What is the Partula snail?Īlso known as the Polynesian tree snail or niho tree snail, the Partula snail ( Partula nodosa) is actually one of several snail species of the genus-all of which are in danger of extinction.
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