Sea snails are slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the absence of a visible shell.
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The shells of snails are complex and grow at different speeds. The speed of growth is affected by a few variables such as the temperature of the water, depth of the water, food present for the snail, as well as isotopic oxygen levels. By looking at the composition of aragonite in the growth layers of mollusks it can be predicted the size the mollusk shell can reach. [1]
The following cladogram is an overview of the main clades of living gastropods based on the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), [2] with taxa that contain saltwater or brackish water species marked in boldface (some of the highlighted taxa consist entirely of marine species, but some of them also contain freshwater or land species.)
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Sea snails are eaten around the world and are a food source of sterols, such as cholesterol, phytosterol, and minerals, which play an important role for human health. [3]
Due to high calcium carbonate content, sea snail shells have potential to be used as raw material in the production of lime. [4]
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