Snails Biology, Ecology, and Conservation

Snails are nearly sessile organisms. They are unable to respond to changes in the environment by escaping. Consequently, snails have to have a "flexible" phenotype which enables variable morphological and behavioural adaptations. In this book, the authors present topical research in the biology, ecology and conservation of snails including: neurotransmitters, benthic diatoms and metamorphosis in marine snails; parasitism as a factor in the morphology and behaviour of freshwater snails; cone snail biology; the role of the transcriptional regulator snail in cancer biology; the importance of moisture in the activity patterns of the arid-dwelling land snail and the adaptive flexibility of the pulmonate's brain.