Identification of common British & Irish garden molluscs

These pages are designed to help beginners get started with the identification of common species of slugs and snails (molluscs) which may be found in most gardens in Great Britain and Ireland – some of them may also be found "in the wild".
 
Some may not occur in your garden, and yet others may be more common – much will depend on your locality – but an effort has been made to include the commonest and most distinctive species, in order not to discourage the beginner.
 
Once you have learned to recognise these it is recommened that reference is made to either Land Snails in the British Isles by Robert Cameron, or A Field Guide to the Land Snails of Britain and North-west Europe by M.P. Kerney and R.A.D. Cameron. For details of these books see the non-marine book list.
 
The nomenclature used throughout this section follows "An annoted list of the non-marine mollusca of Britain and Ireland." by Dr. Roy Anderson,  revised 2008.
 


This Garden Snail will enable you to continue