Snail Species

There are different types of snail
1. Archatina Marginata. This snail grows up to 312mm long. It is also refers to as the big black snail, abundant in southern part of Nigeria. It lays a small numbers of large eggs.
2. Archatina Archatina. This inhabits the bush and forest of West Africa with distinctive black stripes on a brown background. It produces a large numbers of small eggs.
3. Archatina Fulica. This is the one of the several Giant African Land Snails, which grows up to 1ft long. It is a native of south of the Sahara in East Africa. This particular species has been introduced to India, Japan and Nigeria. It multiplies and grows fast and is presently sold in the export market as the Giant African Snail.
4. Helix Aspersa. This is also known as the French “petit gris” “small grey snail”. The shell of a mature adult has four to five whorls and measures 30 to 45mm across. It is a native to the shores of the Mediterranean and up the coast of Spain and France. The snails are common through out US, South Africa, New Zealand, Mexico, Ghana, Argentina and Australia. Helix aspersa has a life span of 2 to 5 years. This species is more adaptable to different climates and conditions than many snails. This adaptability not only increases Helix aspersa’s range but it also make farming Helix aspersa easier and less risky.
5. Helix Promatia. This measures about 45mm across the shell. It is also called the “Roman Snail”, “apple snail”, “Burgundy snail” or “gross blanc”. Native over a large part of Europe, it lives in wooded mountains and valleys up to 2,000m altitude and in vineyards and gardens. The Helix aspersa and Helix promatia are grown on large scale in Italy and some other part of Europe.

The number 1-3 are generally refer to Giant African Land Snails (GALS) and are abundant in the Eastern and Western part of Nigeria.