Hairy Snail

The 3-6 x 5-11 mm shell has 5-6 moderately convex whorls which are rounded or very slightly keeled at the periphery. The aperture has a thin white lip inside. The umbilicus is open and usually wide at 1/8-1/4 of shell diameter. In colour the shell is brown to cream, sometimes with a light band at the periphery. The periostracum is irregularly striated, and densely covered with short (0.2-0.3 mm), curved hairs. These hairs usually remain in the umbilicus if worn away from the rest of the shell. Lost hairs leave pronounced scars. The animal is brownish grey with a darker anterior part.

This species occurs in a number of European countries and islands including: Western Europe:

The British Isles: Great Britain and Ireland Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg Faroe Islands France Switzerland, Liechtenstein Northern Europe:

Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland Central Europe:

Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania Southern Europe:

Andorra, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria Eastern Europe:

Moldova Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Ukraine Russian Federation (Kaliningrad)

The size of the egg is 1.5 mm. A hairy snail was found in the plumage of a great tit (Parus major) wintering in southwestern Poland in 2010. This passerine was the smallest bird species reported to carry a gastropod.