Anyone with an aquarium snail has watched their snail meander across the glass, their smooth “foot” looking like a suction cup along the glass…but how does a snail actually move, if it doesn’t ever seem to take a “step”?

Question

Anyone with an aquarium snail has watched their snail meander across the glass, their smooth “foot” looking like a suction cup along the glass…but how does a snail actually move, if it doesn’t ever seem to take a “step”?

In: Biology

Answer 1

The snail has muscles in its foot, which it can contract to cause ripples in the foot. And those ripples are what propels the snail forward.