Nutrition

Gastropods which are herbivores eat by scraping their radula along surfaces to scrape and tear material off (Eisenhour et al. 2009). Vertigo arthuri appear to feed on the decaying surfaces of leaves (Frest 1991). It is currently unknown as to what Vertigo arthuri is specifically eating on the leaf. Possibilities include common gastropod food sources such as the decaying leaf matter, fungi growing on the leaf, or microorganisms contained on the leaf (Eisenhour et al. 2009). Whether the species prefers a particular type of leaf is unknown too. Also, it remains unknown whether there is any differentiation between adult and juvenile feeding habits (Anderson, T. 2004). Like other gastropods, they store energy in fat but it is currently unknown if they hibernate like some gastropods (Eisenhour et al. 2009). They do not appear to be parasitic in any way but Vertigo species are known to be secondary hosts for parasites such as lungworms. The mortality rate for infected snails is currently unknown (Anderson, T. 2004).