Hey there everyone! Hope your weeks starting off pretty well! Mine has! I want to share with you a picture of one of the little creatures I've been taking care of in lab. I have his unexplainable obsession with Gastropods! I love snails and slugs! They're so adorable! I have been culturing a variety of snails found in samples shipped to the lab. We don't normally work with them so they usually end up being food for the leeches. I found this little dude in one of our samples from Minnesota. It was sooooo tiny when I found it. Still really small but most definitely has grown a bit (: The pattern on its shell is gorgeous as well.
Gastropoda is a class within the Mollusca phylum. It is one of the most diverse class of invertebrates in this phylum. The main anatomical characteristics of a Gastropod is the radula, which is used for feeding and possessing a mantle which is pretty the outer part of the animal that covers its soft part. Pretty much the shell of the snail. I do not know the species of this little dude, but I look forward to learning more about speciation in snails and over gastropods. Have a great Monday! 
