These snails at Nee Soon swamp aren't dead; they are just cowering deep in their coils, scared shitless in their shells for no good reason. After all, my kind of duck isn't into escargot....
My molluscan consultant Chan SW identifies these as Amphidromus (Amphidromus) atricallosus perakensis Fulton, 1901 (Camaenidae). The robust specimen on top is an adult, while the one below is a juvenile. This subspecies is restricted to three localities in Singapore, but it can also be found in the Malay Peninsula.
This genus comes in many fancy colours, and other members of the family harbour taxonomic tales of Trojan tragi-comedy.
Left and right-handed individuals ---ambidextrous Amphidromus!
Posted by: Snail | 10 September 2007 at 09:25 PM
Are the snails' bodies yellow too, or is it just their shells?
Posted by: Aydin | 10 September 2007 at 11:45 PM
good question. they refuse to come out during the day though, when they hang tight on tree trunks/old walls. And the site is quite hazardous to visit at night. Any idea how i could get them to poke their bodies out in daylight?
Posted by: budak | 11 September 2007 at 12:02 AM
I think that their bodies are grey. The one in my profile pic has a dark grey body and I recall the ones on Pulau Krakatau as light grey. (I know that's only two data points. Or one point and a dodgy memory.)
You could try dousing them with fresh water if you want them to come out. They might start moving if they think it's raining.
Posted by: Snail | 13 September 2007 at 08:05 PM