Interactions

Haplotrema concavum is a carnivorous snail that is usually found alone rather then in a group.  Occasionally, it will engage in cannibalism by eating others of the same species.  It is thought that since it is a carnivorous snail it may contribute to reducing pest snails that destroy crops. Invertebrate predators of land snails include beetles and their larvae, millipedes, flies, mites, nematodes, and other snails (Hotopp, 2006). Vertebrate predators of snails and slugs include shrews, mice and other small mammals, and birds, especially ground-foragers, animals that search/peck at the ground for food, such as thrushes, grouse, blackbirds, and turkey (Hotopp, 2006).  Pearce and Gaertner were able to predict which snail prey were most preferred by the lancetooth by using information about the anatomy and shell structure of their prey (Hotopp, 2006). The oval ambersnail, Succinea ovalis, was attacked quite often because it has a large aperture and thin shell.  The snail maze pinecone, Strobilops labyrinthica, with its thick shell and narrow aperture, was least preferred because it took more effort to gain access to the snail's body (Hotopp, 2006). Disc Cannibal Snails are also known to carry the brainworm nematode, it gets this parasite by eating other snails that are already infected, and in turn passes it on to predators that eat it (Watters, 2001).

 

  

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