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Those who have spent their childhood in countryside probably have faced the task given by grandparents – to collect all snails that can be found. Those were Burgundy snails, and often this is the only species of snails that people recognize while in being in nature. Whereas, Mārtiņš Kalniņš, the environmental planning expert of LVM, recently found a peculiar snail, which is a very rare find in Latvia – the mask snail (Isognomostoma isognomostomos), which has a very unusual look.

“The mask snail is a very rare in Latvia. The diameter of its shell can reach 1 cm, but mainly it is one of the small and hard-to-notice snails. From the species that can be found in Latvia, only this snail has so distinct and visible hair on its shell. The Latvian name – big lip – comes from the opening of the shell, whose rim creates a thickened and distinct “lip”, which is rare for other species,” says Mārtiņš Kalniņš.

These snails live only in gully forests that have constant moisture regime and a lot of elm trees. Until now in Latvia this species have been found only in few gullies, in the banks of river Daugava between Daugavpils and Krāslava. The Latvian localities are the westmost localities in Europe of the mask snail. In Europe this species can also be found in Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathian, Sudetes mountains and in some other places.

The mask snail belongs to mollusc or slug type. It is also included in the third category of Latvian Red Book of endangered species. This category lists species, whose number of individuals is decreasing and the area of distribution is becoming smaller for several years in row due to natural reasons or in the result of human activities, or due to both mentioned factors.