Glyphyalinia wheatleyi

Nutrition

Most gastropods, like G. wheatleyi, are usually herbivores meaning they consume plants (Rogers et.al, 2009).  However land snails have also been found to consume all different types of organic material which may include things such as decaying animals and seeds or leaves (Barker, 2001). When considering their feeding styles, they can be considered to be grazers (Rogers et.al, 2009).  In order to be capable of this grazing or roaming behavior, land snails use a chitinous structure known as the radula (Purchon, 1968). The radula contains many tiny little teeth that aid in the rasping of plant matter and other food sources (Purchon, 1968).  A big adaptation that is used heavily in nutrition are the tentacles found at the anterior end of the snail, that are used for things such as chemosensory and help the snail decide whether or not to consume the material that lay in its path (Barker, 2001).  With G. wheatleyi and other gastropods being herbivores there is a natural effect on the plants within their habitat.  It can be a good effect in that the plants that are fed upon are no longer competitors for the others or it can just destroy many plants by only affecting some tissue levels within that plant (Barker, 2001).  All in all for land snails, nutrition can usually be found in an abundant manner using specific modifications and adaptations of the specific species.

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