World_of_Animals_Issue_46_2017

Extreme snails
Most protective
Apple snail
eggs destroy
the central
nervous
system
As if living underwater while needing
to breathe air isn’t enough, these
snails go the extra mile to protect their
progeny from predators
This tropical freshwater species takes child
safety seriously. Females risk their lives by
leaving the water to find an aerial surface
for their eggs to develop in peace. In some
apple snail species the preferred location is
a stone or log at the surface, but most seek
out high-up plant stems that tower above
the water.
Their eggs are bright pink to warn off
egg hunters – those that do eat them meet
a grisly end. The toxin inside is a unique
combination of proteins that remains
active even when it has passed through a
predator’s entire digestive system. Of all
their natural predators, only tropical fire
ants are able to survive eating these eggs.
Apple snails are able
to lay so many of these
protected eggs that the
species has colonised
new environments and
even become a pest
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