We want snails!

We hosted a visit from our wonderful ecologists last week. Our own Ecologist Iain was joined by his colleague Clive for site visits, and it was a great learning experience for us all. It was a wonderful week. We, in RSPB Shetland, are always keen to learn more about the natural environment and we have a range of passions within the natural world. Obviously, we all love the birds, but we also have a couple of marvellous marine mammologists, a lover of lichens, a batty botanist and passionate people (in nature)! However, within the team we don’t have any knowledge of snails. Enter the Magnificent Malacologist Clive! Otherwise known as one of our area ecologists within the RSPB. On his visit last week, he spent his down time looking for snails and wrote the following information about what he found. We found it absolutely fascinating and hope you do to.

I really appreciated the interest you showed in all the snaily stuff!  The Shetland team was unique in its snail enthusiasm:  “We want snails !” chant was a first for me…. I don’t think I’ll forget that moment in a hurry !  Anyway, Shetland is hereby officially added to the Roll of Honour of Mollusc-friendly reserve teams.

Here’s a wee run-through, because you did say you wanted snails……. Most of the shelled ones are no more than 2-3mm high.

*Please note all records stated below are based on information available on the database. Some of the frequencies of records will be far more regular, however they have not been officially recorded. 

1. Black Slug Arion ater. Tresta. 7^th record for Shetland. Big and sluggish, but can be quite handsome when you get used to the slime.  The yellow variety are a bit 1970s psychedelic, but this one was a brown variety and the only other place I have seen this colour is Crammond in Edinburgh.
2. Dusky Slug Arion subfuscus. Windhouse Lodge. 16^th record for Shetland, 2^nd for Yell (Photo 1). Easy on the eyes, quite a confident snail, but sleeps a lot.

3. Mabille’s Orange Soled Slug Arion distinctus. Windhouse Lodge. 7^th record for Shetland, 1^st for Yell (Photo 2). This is now the UK’s northern-most record of this species! It’s usually called the ‘Common Garden Slug’, but really Mabille’s genius at inventing slug names has to be acknowledged.  In the photo the big one has a wee buddy. 

4. Netted Slug Deroceras reticulatum. Windhouse Lodge. Widespread in Shetland. Not that bonny to look at: only the Mottled Green Cellar Slug is more challenging to look at and is thought to be the model for Shrek’s dinner, so gets pole position.
5. Winter Semi-Slug Vitrea palicida. Bordastubble. 14^th record for Shetland (Photo 3). Welcome to the Alice in Wonderland world of semi-slugs. Half slug, half snail (no kidding). They are often seen in the winter unlike most snails or slugs. I say ‘often’, but not that often.

6. Common Chrysalis Snail Columella aspera.   5^th record for Shetland, 1^st for Unst (Photo 4). This is now the UK’s northern-most record of this species!  Used to be called the ‘Rough Whorl Snail’ but it has a congenator called the ‘Toothless Chrysalis Snail’ so they changed the name because they thought it was an unfair match - what with one being rough and the other toothless.

7. Introducing the Striated Whorl Snail Vertigo substriata. 5^th record for Shetland, 1^st for Unst (Photo 5). This is now the UK’s northern-most record of this species!  My fav snail of the week. It is not ‘toothless’ as it has 4 or 5 teeth, so is quite ‘rough’. That’s not why I like it of course, I like because it looks cool(ish) and spiral, lives in species-rich flushes and is hard to find. 

8. Jenkins’ Spire Snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum. 16^th record for Shetland (Photo 6). It’s often called the New Zealand Spire Snail but I prefer ‘Jenkins’ because (whoever that is) is  immortalised in a snail in a nerdy kind of way.  It came to the UK about 150 years ago and is pretty much everywhere now. No one has been able to find much harmful about it.

9. Dwarf Pond Snail Galba truncatula. Bordastubble. 17^th record for Shetland, 2^nd for Unst (Photo 7).  A very common snail in any damp places in the UK.

10. Garlic Glass Snail Oxychilus allarius. Haroldswick in stone dyke, and Vollister, Lumbister, inside the old building (Photo 8). Everyone’s fav. and great for snail demos, as you know!  (It really does smell like Garlic!!)

11. Pea clam Euglesa Bordastubble. In lots of wet places in Shetland. A bivalve, really hard to identify to species level (Photo 9).

11. Dot Snail Punctum pygmaeum. Bordastubble (Photo 10).  Yup tiny, barely 1mm, could be a “.”   Likes wet flushes.

 All photos are Clive's

And there you have it! I hope you found this blog as fascinating as we all did. We are all taking this as an opportunity to take a closer look at the snails and slugs we come across. With a name like Mabille’s Orange Soled Slug you cannot possibly complain about them munching on your veg patch!

 And now for recent ‘feathered’ sightings:

Sumburgh Head

Marsh Warbler,  Black Guillemot, Fulmar, Great Skua, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Puffin, Razorbill, Meadow Pipit,  Twite ,  Wren, Starling,

Loch of Spiggie

Curlew, Lapwing, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Snipe, Meadow Pipit, Sand Martin, Whooper Swan, Mute Swan, Black-headed Gull, Bonxie,  Swallow,

Mousa

Shag, Storm Petrel, Snipe, Meadow Pipit, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Curlew, Curlew, Arctic Tern, Eider Duck, Red-throated Diver, Arctic Skua, Redshank, Lapwing, Skylark, Teal, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Guillemot, Puffin, Razorbill, Hooded Crow, Shelduck

Fetlar

Savi’s Warbler, Red-necked Phalarope , Red backed Shrike,  Golden Plover, Snipe, Whimbrel, Meadow Pipit, Red-throated Diver, Teal, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Lapwing, Redshank, Curlew, Arctic Skua, Bonxie,