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.