How snails are reproduced

It is well known that most snails are hermaphrodites, which means that they have both a penis and a female reproductive system . However there are other kinds of snail that are only male or female. Whatever its gender, a snail can not fecundate itself, so it needs a partner to reproduce. But how do the snails reproduce ? Then it reveals in detail what for many is a mystery.

Mating seasons

Regarding the ideal time to reproduce, these invertebrate mollusks prefer spring and autumn because the climate tends to be more temperate, but also quite humid. With a life expectancy of 5 to 7 years, after exceeding 6 or 8 months of age the snail is considered sexually mature.

Game of seduction

In the first place, courtship begins between two snails. This game of seduction is presented with the mollusks moving in circles around each other palpating with their mouths, and that is how they interlock their bodies. And is that absurd as it seems, the snails also play the preliminaries during the mating process, which usually lasts about 20 minutes. These animals need to be aroused before copulating, and for that they resort to the calcareous dart of their morphology, located inside the genital orifice.

The copulation

During copulation, one of the snails inserts its dart into the female reproductive system of the other and both wait for it to lodge in the oval bag of the vagina.

In snails the reproduction is extremely long, lasting between 10 and 12 hours. This is because after that time is when the ovules are mature and ready to receive the sperm with which to carry out fertilization.

During reproduction, which occurs at night, both snails are released DNA strands mutually in the form of calcium carbonate. When they are received in the female reproductive system, they dissolve and release the sperm. After 10 or 12 hours the ovules mature and accept the sperm, as mentioned, and this action causes both snails to be fertilized, forming eggs inside.

The eggs

After 15 or 20 days, the snails dig a hole under the ground with their head and foot where they deposit their fertilized eggs, turning it into a nest. The mollusks expel between 50 and 80 eggs of about 3 mm from their genital orifices on this hole. Other snail species can reach around 200 eggs, such as Chinese snails, and even up to 700, such as Achatina African snails.

Birth

Finally, after 16 or 30 days the eggs hatch and the young are born, which remain in the nest for 3 or 5 more days until they leave it. In order to reach the outside, they devour the membrane that covers their egg, which provides them with proteins and mineral salts, as well as the earth that covers their nest. That's when these snails start the cycle of life.

The reproduction of other species

If knowing how snails reproduce is curious, then you can not miss some articles in which we explain the reproductive process of other animals. Find out how sharks reproduce or how other animals do and discover a little more about the natural world.