The country's biggest ever snail trail has started as the National Trust launches a nationwide search for a tiny snail normally found in the Mediterranean. This pretty little snail, which has no English name, has turned up at two Trust places - Brownsea Island in Dorset and Cliveden in Buckinghamshire. However, they had remained hidden from the gaze of naturalists for more than 100 years after hitching a ride from warmer climes to the UK in the 19th century.
Lovely little snail found in surprising places
Matthew Oates, National Trust Nature Conservation adviser, said: ‘The Victorians and Edwardians loved importing statues, rock and brickwork from the Mediterranean. The shipping over of this "bling" in large quantities suggests that we could find new species, such as this lovely little snail, in surprising places.'
As a result of the two discoveries on its land - and the only recorded locations in the UK - the National Trust will be carrying out an audit of its properties and is asking the public to help in its quest to establish the true extent of the snail's distribution and population.
The National Trust for Scotland will also be joining the search for these little snails at its properties.
Lindsay MacKinlay, National Trust for Scotland Nature Conservation adviser, said: ‘Scotland is home to a wide diversity of animals and plants, and amazingly, given our wet weather at the moment, some come from warmer parts of the world. Snails, like other wildlife, don't recognise national borders so we're happy to join in with the National Trust in this search and see if any of these lovely snails have reached these northern climes.'
The snail can normally be found under any stone or rock or in brickwork imported from the Mediterranean. It has a pinky-grey spindle-shaped shell that is only about 11mm long. It is common in the Mediterranean, where it is often found in old buildings.
Matthew Oates continued: ‘We now have two National Trust properties vying for ownership of the same snail. One calls it the Cliveden Snail and the other the Brownsea Snail.'
Amazing it has taken so long to rediscover – even though they're in our own backyard
‘Mercifully, the snail's scientific name has recently been changed to Papillifera bidens, which means that at Cliveden it can perhaps be known as P. papillaris, whilst Brownsea can know it as P. bidens, or vice versa.'
The snail found on Brownsea Island arrived on rock that came from Greece in the 1880s and the population at Cliveden was shipped to the UK in 1896 when a brick and marble balustrade was controversially imported from the gardens of the grand Villa Borghese in Rome. Since they arrived in Victorian Britain the populations of snails have gradually moved from their original sites - though only a matter of metres - on Brownsea and at Cliveden and the populations remain healthy.
Matthew Oates added: ‘Given that the UK has always had the best naturalists in the world it's remarkable that these two colonies have taken so long to come to light, even though they're in our own backyard.
‘Who knows where else this small but beautifully shaped snail could be found lurking? With items from gardens of grand houses ending up in reclamation yards it's possible that the snail could be fairly widespread.'
TINY IMPORT: The snail is no more than 11mm long
