Reproduction
Snails are monecious, literally translated means "one
house". That means that they they have both sperm and ova.
Though reproduction is sexual and they can fertilize themselves,
they can also fertilize each other's
ova. It has been observed that one snail will bite the penis of
the other snail during fertilization so it is likely that only
one will become fertilized ( FWGNA). A mating ritual takes place
prior to fertilization and this could take any where from 2 to 12
hours. Then they can produce up to 100 eggs. The eggs look like
gelatinous, transparent
sausages. The young will
produce their shell while still in the egg, it will be very weak
due to the lack of calcium. Immediately upon hatching they eat
the egg shell and possibly the shells of other unhatched eggs.
The maximum life span is 16 months and mating occurs almost non
stop
during the summer (Animal Diversity Web).
The above picture is of a Fossaria obrussa shell.