Nutrition

The nutrition of Paravitrea multidentata  (Binney, 1840) is very unresearched, but because of the grouping this snail is in, we can narrow down to what snails in their same class (Gastropoda) eat.

Snails in the class Gastropoda are mainly herbivores.  Most eat plants or fungi, but few eat animal matter and soil. The plants leaves, stems, and sometimes even the wood and bark give these snails the nutrients they need.  Gastropods also tend to scrape off the coating of fungi on rocks and trees.  Organic and inorganic soil and rock particles also get ingested.  These things give the snails nutrients such as calcium that they need to keep their shell strong (Hotopp, 2006).

Gastropods eat using their radula, which is a membrane covered with little teeth made of chitin.  The radula moves with a back and forth motion, scraping food off their substrate, and scraping it into the snails esophagus for digestion.  Gastropods have a complete digestive system, which means that there are two different holes for the mouth and the anus (Hotopp, 2006.)