Nutrition
Genus Vertigo members are typically herbivores. These snails feed off of algae, fungi, and bacteria from the decaying matter they live on (COSEWIC, 2010). Like other gastropods, Vertigo ovata, Say, 1822, possess a radula. A radula is a tongue-like structure located near the mouth, covered in tiny chitinous teeth, used for scraping food off of the substrate. The radula also directs food particles into the mouth (Gillis, 2011). Click the link below for a radula in action!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-SBGWAUbxA
Although specific digestion information for V. ovata is unknown, it is likely that food then follows the typical pattern of other pulmonate (air-breathing) gastropods: enzymes are secreted from salivary and digestive glands to break down food extracellularly in the stomach before intracellular digestion in the liver can occur, food passes through the gut, and is excreted out the anus, which is located in the posterior region because of torsion. Many pulmonate gastropods also have a crop, where food is stored and broken down via enzymes before digestion (Bourquin, 2002). Some of the energy from this food will be allocated towards continuing the species. See how V. ovata reproduces!