Search is on for the German hairy snail in London

"Citizen scientists and expert conchologists are teaming up to conduct the first London-wide search for one of Britain's most endangered molluscs. The fingernail-sized German hairy snail (Pseudotrichia rubiginosa) is found in fragmented patches of habitat mostly along the tidal Thames. It was not recorded in Britain until 1982 but fossilised remains indicate it has been here since at least Neolithic times and possibly since the last ice age, when the Thames was still connected to the Rhine, Germany's longest river."

"The fine hairs that run along its slim, round shell are thought to allow the mollusc to shed moisture, ensuring its slime is sticky enough to cling to the plants it feeds on and slippery riverside objects. I was over the moon when I found my first one, I never thought I'd be so excited, said Elliot Newton, director of rewilding at Citizen Zoo. They are beautiful creatures if you really pay attention to them and very curious looking, covered by these little straight hairs."

An organized London-wide search is underway to locate the endangered fingernail-sized German hairy snail (Pseudotrichia rubiginosa) along the tidal Thames, its islands and tributaries including the Lee. More than 100 volunteers working with Citizen Zoo and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are surveying high-tide debris and riverside habitats. The species appears in fragmented patches and was first recorded in Britain in 1982, though fossil evidence suggests presence since at least Neolithic times and possibly since the last ice age when the Thames connected to the Rhine. Fine hairs on the snail's shell help shed moisture and aid adhesion to plants and slippery objects. Surveys will inform conservation actions and protect London green spaces.

Read at www.theguardian.com