ShellMade mostly of calcium carbonate. The snail can pull its whole body inside.
FootThe foot is a muscle. Waves of squeezing along it carry the snail forward on its slime.
HeadThe head carries the tentacles, the eyes and the mouth.
MantleThe part of the body that makes the shell.
Breathing poreA hole in the mantle that the snail opens and closes. It leads to the lung.
The head up close 4
Upper tentaclesThe longer pair of tentacles, with an eye at each tip. The snail can pull them in.
EyeA land snail's eyes are at the tips of its upper tentacles.
Lower tentaclesThe shorter pair of tentacles. The snail smells with them.
MouthInside is the radula, a ribbon of tiny teeth that scrapes food.
The empty shell 6
SpireAll the whorls above the body whorl.
Body whorlThe last and largest whorl. Most of the snail's body sits inside it.
ApexThe tip of the spire. Its whorls are the smallest, made when the snail was young.
ApertureThe opening the snail's body comes out of. New shell is added at its edge.
LipThe edge of the aperture. A full-grown snail may build a thicker lip.
SutureThe line where one whorl joins the next.
How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 against (1) J. L. Capinera and J. White, Terrestrial Snails Affecting Plants in Florida, EENY497, University of Florida IFAS Extension, https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN893 (shell of calcium carbonate made by the mantle; spire, whorls, aperture and its lip; two pairs of tentacles on the head, the larger pair with eyes at the tips, used for tasting and smelling; the foot as a muscle that moves by waves; the breathing pore or pneumostome, opened and closed, leading to the lung; the mouth with its radula); (2) Wikipedia, text only: Land snail, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_snail, Gastropod shell, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastropod_shell, Snail, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snail, and Pneumostome, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumostome (upper and lower tentacles, eyes on the upper pair, mantle, foot, pneumostome in the mantle, apex, spire, body whorl, suture, aperture, lip, new shell added at the edge of the aperture); (3) Florida Museum of Natural History, Freshwater Snails of Florida ID Guide, https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/iz/resources/florida-snails/, for the shell terms only (apex, spire, body whorl, suture, aperture, outer lip); (4) University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web, Gastropoda, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Gastropoda/ (head with eyes and tentacles, mouth, muscular foot, mantle, body withdrawn into the shell). Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
Three drawings to label: a snail crawling along, its head up close, and an empty shell. Start with the shell, the foot and the head.
Read the full guide
The snail, the head, then the shell
Numbers 1 to 5 are on the whole snail: the shell, the foot, the head, the mantle and the breathing pore. Numbers 6 to 9 are on the head: the long upper tentacles, an eye, the short lower tentacles and the mouth. Numbers 10 to 15 are on the empty shell: the spire and the body whorl, the apex at the tip, the aperture, its lip and a suture.
The shell grows at its opening, so the apex at the tip is the oldest part.
Questions and answers
How many tentacles does a snail have?
Most land snails have four, in two pairs. The long upper pair carries the eyes at its tips. The short lower pair is for smelling. A snail can pull all four in.
How does a snail breathe?
Through a breathing pore, a hole in the mantle near the edge of the shell. The snail opens and closes it, and it leads to the lung.
What is a snail's shell made of?
Mostly calcium carbonate, made by the mantle, a part of the body. New shell is added at the edge of the opening, so the middle of the coil is the oldest part.
What is the opening of a snail shell called?
The aperture. Its edge is the lip, and a full-grown snail may build a thicker lip round it.