Investigation in the laboratory of mucous trail detection in the terrestrial pulmonate snail Mesodon thyroidus (Say, 1817) (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Polygyridae)*
Some gastropods are able to find food sources by following airborne chemical plumes using both tropotaxis and anemotaxis. This study examined odour tracking to food odours with a species of terrestrial gastropod, Meridolum gulosum (Gould, 1864), a native to rainforests in coastal south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It was demonstrated that M. gulosum moves towards food odours (fungus) in still air, and holds its tentacles at characteristic angles when moving towards an odour source. This snail can detect odours at least 12 cm away from the source in air.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.