Re: Radula markings in Kew

Dear Editor,

In Mollusc World Issue 25, March 2011, a letter was published from Peter Mason describing some radula markings on a white painted cast iron column coated with algae in the fern house at Kew Gardens. He also supplied an excellent picture of the trail.

Recently I noticed that radula trails were appearing on the lid of our black recycling bin. I therefore spent a night or two running in and out to see what species was making them. I soon found out that it was our common garden snail Cornu aspersum .  The next day I took some photographs of the marks one of which is shown here.

Comparing the two photographs I think that Peter Mason’s radula trail was probably that of a C. aspersum living in the fern house. After all the fern house in Kew is not a hot house and so C. aspersum would find it a very comfortable place to live and would find little trouble in getting  inside one way or another !             

Yours sincerely, 

                  John Llewellyn–Jones

^{C. aspersum radula marks}