THE VARIED ROLES OF SNAILS - National Universities Commission

produce stress. Thus snail distribution and abundance
should indicate the presence or absence of these
pollutants in the environment. Having this knowledge
helps in protecting human health since most of the
environmental pollutants constitute serious public
health hazards.
(b) SNAILS AS HUMAN FOOD:
Domestication of wild species has been particularly
popular in the West African sub-region where
“bushmeat” is a most important dietary item. The giant
African land snails have been variously studied,
especially in Ghana and Nigeria as they are avidly
consumed. Studies on the various aspects of biology
and ecology as well as capture rearing of the snails have
been going on in the Department of Zoology of the
University of Ghana for over 25 years (Hodasi, 1973).
These snails have been found to provide alternative
sources of animal protein complementing that from
other foods.
The edible giant snails in Africa belong to two genera:
Achatina (Lamarch) and Archachatina (Albers). Species
of both genera are common south of the Sahara.
Achatina achatina is the most common species in West
Africa whereas Archachatina marginata occurs more in
Southern Nigeria and in the Congo basin (Hodasi,
1984). The snails are collected in large numbers by
rural people and are marketed fresh or smoke dried.
During the rainy season, the snails are cheap and
abundant.
In 1961, Mead reported from the 1919 paper of one
Scientist called Lang that the snails were avidly
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