Feels Like That Should Hurt: Scientists Capture Rare Snail Laying Egg Through Neck Hole
In a first, officials at New Zealand's Department of Conservation have documented a Powelliphanta augusta snail laying its eggs. The carnivorous land snails are known for their unique method of mating and reproduction, which involves a 'genital pore' just below their head. This latest egg-laying feat is all the more important given that the slimy animals were almost completely wiped out of existence.
P. augusta is also called the Mount Augustus snail, named after the only known habitat on New Zealand's South Island where they were once natively found. About 20 years ago, a coal mining operation in the area began to decimate its environment, and conservationists scrambled to save as many snails as they could to be raised in captivity.
DOC officials based in the nearby town of Hokitika have been raising their own captive population of Mount Augustus snails since 2006. But they've only now been able to see—and capture live—the snails' egg-laying up close and personal. DOC has posted a video of the snail's egg-laying on its YouTube account.
'It's remarkable that in all the time we've spent caring for the snails, this is the first time we've seen one lay an egg,' said ranger Lisa Flanagan in a statement released by the DOC on Wednesday. 'We caught the action when we were weighing the snail. We turned it over to be weighed and saw the egg just starting to emerge from the snail.'
Most land snails are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female sexual organs. This allows them to reproduce with any other member of the species, or even to self-fertilize if needed, though the latter usually results in less viable offspring. Mount Augustus snails in particular carry out their mating with the help of a genital pore along their neck. This same opening is also where the snail's eggs will emerge from.
'It extends its penis out of this pore and into its mate's pore, and its mate does the same, simultaneously exchanging sperm, which they can store until they each fertilize the sperm they've received to create eggs,' Flanagan explained.
P. augusta snails mature relatively slowly, taking about eight years before they can start laying eggs. And even then, they only lay about five eggs a year, which can take another year to hatch. So compared to other snails, including invasive species threatening New Zealand, it's been harder to ensure their continued survival. But the DOC has been able to breed them in captivity and they've started to reintroduce new populations to the wild with some success.
Until these efforts are firmly self-sustaining, however, the DOC will hold onto its houseguests, which can live up to 30 years in captivity. And with any luck, they'll continue to learn more about these weird but plucky creatures.
'I just love watching their progress each month, weighing them, how their shells develop, and all the interesting things they do,' said Flanagan.
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