Snail 

is a common name for almost all members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have

coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in a general sense, it includes sea snails, land
snails and freshwater snails. Otherwise snail-like creatures that lack a shell (or have only a very small
one) are called slugs.

One species of land snail, the Giant African Snail, can grow to be 15 inches (38 cm) from snout to tail,
and weigh 1 kilogram (2 lb). The largest living species of sea snail is Syrinx aruanus which has a shell
that can measure up to 90 cm (35 in) in length, and the whole animal with the shell can weigh up to
18 kg (40 lb).

Snails can be found in a very wide range of environments including ditches, deserts, and

the abyssal depths of the sea. Although many people are familiar with terrestrial snails, land snails are
in the minority. Marine snails constitute the majority of snail species, and have much greater diversity
and a greaterbiomass. Numerous kinds of snail can also be found in fresh waters. Many snails
are herbivorous, though a few land species and many marine species
areomnivores or predatory carnivores.

Snails that respire using a lung belong to the group Pulmonata, while those with gills form

a paraphyletic group; in other words, snails with gills are divided into a number of taxonomic groups
that are not very closely related. Snails with lungs and with gills have diversified widely enough over
geological time that a few species with gills can be found on land, numerous species with a lung can
be found in freshwater, and a few species with a lung can be found in the sea.

Most snails have thousands of microscopic tooth-like structures located on a ribbon-like tongue called
a radula. The radula works like a file, ripping the food into small pieces.