Nutrition
Neohelix albolabris are herbivores and consume a wide variety of foods. Food sources include tree sap, fungi, lichens, and vegetation found within their habitat, which is primarily the Eastern coast of North America. (Dourson and Dourson, 2006) Snails use their radula to obtain food. Radula is an organ comparable to the tongue where rows of chitinous teeth can be found. When protruded the radula can pierce, tear, or cut particles of food in order to allow easier digestion (Hickman, 2011)
Photo taken by SEM
What can be seen above is radula of a Pulmonate snail
They contain an open circulatory system, which means that
their blood is not only limited to their heart and vessels, but
actually filters through the hemocoel irregularly. The Hemocoel
consists of sinuses and channels in the tissues. (Gillis, 2012)
This results in the blood filtering under low pressure and leads
to less efficiency in supplying oxygen to all the tissues.
Snails are slow moving due to their tissues having a lower level
of oxygen reaching their muscles (Hickman, 2011)
To the left a simplified diagram of how the open circulatory system works in Neohelix albolabris can be seen.
Photo taken from Wikimedia
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