It is not often realised that snails not only live on land but also in water and indeed scientists believe that snails evolved first on water and then moved on to the land.

Snails belong to the huge mass of animals called molluscs which comes from the greek and means soft bodied. Although the bodies are soft but are often protected by a substantial shell.

In Britain there are no fewer than 36 fresh water snails of which 16 live in rivers and 20 in still water.

These snails are classified into two groups. They are the lung breathers and the gill breathers. The gill breathers have a plate attached to their muscular foot and for this system to work properly they need plenty of oxygen which they obtain in moving water.

The lung breathers have evolved a simple lung system and water snails therefore have to come to the surface periodically in order to breathe.

Water snails appear to be feeding on large plants floating in the water but this is not the case.

They have a tongue like structure called a radula and which works like a rasp.

This the snail uses to scrape green algae from the surface of leaves and also from stones beneath the surface.

With the use of just a cheap net you can find the great pond snail and the ram’s horn snail, both of which are lung breathers.

They are common in all still waters in East Lancs.