Long Long ago all the molluscs of the world lived in the sea. At some time molluscs began to forage for food on land. These early mollusc explorers were all snails. They came out of the water and carried their home with them – their shells. In the sea these shells were most useful as a protection against predators. On land the shells were useful in another way. They stopped the snails losing water through their skin. If snails become dry, they easily die. Shells enabled snails to look for food a long way away from the sea. Some snails decided to live inland completely and these were ancestors of our modern day land snails. Also long ago, some snails lost their shells completely and relied upon the weather conditions to stay moist. The loss of shell enabled these molluscs to be able to forage for food without being hampered by the shell. They became bigger, longer and quicker than shelled snails. These creatures are now known as slugs. We have over 20 species of native slug in England and we have described the Common Garden Slug and the Black Slug in our A-Z. Also In England we have approximately 60 species of native land snail. Most are small and rarely seen. We will be describing the Rounded Snail in our A-Z at a later date.