This presentation will share an overview of the Great German Hairy Snail Survey, a collaborative project between Citizen Zoo and the Conchological Society of Britain and Ireland, which is leading the first ever large-scale structured survey for this rare mollusc across London. We’ll explore how the species is faring in the capital, what we’ve learned from the survey, and the recommendations we’re putting forward for its conservation. You’ll be introduced to this fascinating snail, hear how you can get involved in future work, and discover yet another example of the remarkable creatures living in London.
Q&A with Elliot Newton
Elliot Newton is Director of Rewilding and co-founder of Citizen Zoo, an urban rewilding organisation that believes cities can be alive with wildlife. Citizen Zoo empowers communities to get involved with an array of urban rewilding projects, working with species such as Beavers, Water Voles, White Storks and, of course, German Hairy Snails! These projects raise expectations of what urban and semi-urban places can become, reconnect people with nature on their doorstep and give ecosystems space to thrive alongside everyday life.
What habitat restoration work would you encourage to support the conservation of the German Hairy Snail in London?
The German Hairy Snail is strongly associated with wetlands within the flood zones of freshwater rivers, particularly damp habitats along river valleys such as marshes, wet meadows, woodland edges and other areas of seasonally inundated ground. Studies from Belgium and the Thames indicate several consistent habitat features, including temporary inundation, exposed muddy sediments, organic-rich decaying litter and dense nitrophilous vegetation. The species also appears to favour dead and decaying woody and plant material over living vegetation.
Habitat restoration should therefore focus on protecting and enhancing natural river corridors and creating structurally complex, damp riparian habitats. This could include maintaining or restoring seasonally inundated areas, reconnecting rivers with their floodplains, protecting wide vegetated river buffers, and allowing accumulations of leaf litter, deadwood and other decaying organic material to develop.
Management should avoid making river margins overly tidy or uniform. Retaining fallen timber, woody debris, dense vegetation and areas of undisturbed organic material can provide the humid microhabitats required by German Hairy Snails, while also creating a much wider range of niches for other invertebrates and wildlife. In London in particular, protecting these complex riparian habitats from excessive clearance, mowing and development could therefore benefit both the German Hairy Snail and the wider ecological resilience of river corridors.
Is there any interest in a conservation breeding programme for German Hairy Snails?
There is currently no conservation breeding programme for the German Hairy Snail, and our recent study suggests that such an intervention may not be necessary at present. Our surveys found the species in much greater abundance than previously anticipated, recording hundreds more individuals than had been documented through previous surveys. This suggests that the species may be more widespread and locally abundant within suitable habitat than the existing records indicated.
The priority now should be to better understand the species’ status in London, particularly its distribution, habitat requirements and seasonal fluctuations in detectability and abundance. This evidence will help determine the most appropriate conservation measures, with habitat protection, restoration and improved management of riparian habitats likely to be the immediate priorities.
At present, I would therefore not consider conservation breeding to be a necessary tool for the German Hairy Snail. However, there are other threatened mollusc species for which conservation breeding and reinforcement could potentially form part of the conservation toolkit. For these species, the first step should similarly be to establish a robust understanding of their current distribution, population status and threats, before determining whether measures such as habitat restoration, captive breeding, reinforcement or reintroduction are required.
What are the hairs on a German Hairy Snail made of?
The “hairs” on the shell are made from keratin, a type of protein. While a snail’s hard inner shell is composed of calcium carbonate, these fine bristles are part of the periostracum, a thin, protective organic “skin” or protein layer (primarily made of a tough protein mix called conchiolin) that coats the outside of the shell. Specialist glandular tissues secrete these structures as the shell grows.
Further Info
- Citizen Zoo: https://www.citizenzoo.org/
- Volunteer with Citizen Zoo: https://www.citizenzoo.org/get-involved/volunteer-with-us/
- Citizen Zoo Newsletter: https://www.citizenzoo.org/get-involved/newsletter/
- Citizen Zoo – Become a Member: https://www.citizenzoo.org/get-involved/membership/
- Listen to the Citizen Zoo podcast: https://citzenzoo.podbean.com/
- The Conchological Society of Britain and Ireland: https://conchsoc.org/
- Become a member of the Conchological Society of Britain and Ireland: https://conchsoc.org/join
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entoLIVE
entoLIVE webinars feature guest invertebrate researchers delving into their own invertebrate research. All events are free to attend and are suitable for adults of all abilities – a passion for invertebrates is all that’s required!
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