Eastern Whitelip

Also known as White-lip Globe Snail, Whitelip Snail

Eastern whitelips glide across damp forest floors on a layer of secreted mucus, using their rasping radula to scrape decaying plant matter, fungi, and micro-algae from fallen leaves. As simultaneous hermaphrodites, individuals mate reciprocally in spring or summer, later depositing clusters of gelatinous eggs into moist soil or beneath rotting logs. During cold winters or dry summer spells, they retreat deep within their shells, sealing the opening with a protective calcified mucus barrier called an epiphragm.