Editing Gastropoda (section)

== Habitat ==
[[File:Slimaczek.jpg|thumb|''[[Cepaea nemoralis]]'': a European pulmonate land snail, which has been introduced to many other countries]]
{{main|sea snail|sea slug|Terrestrial animal#Gastropods|land snail|semi-slug|slug}}
Gastropods are found in a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial habitats, from deep ocean trenches to deserts.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Some of the more familiar and better-known gastropods are [[Terrestrial animal#Gastropods|terrestrial gastropods]] (the land snails and slugs). Some live in fresh water, but most named species of gastropods live in a marine environment. {{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Gastropods have a worldwide distribution, from the near [[Arctic]] and [[Antarctic]] zones to the tropics. They have become adapted to almost every kind of existence on earth, having colonized nearly every available medium.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

In habitats where not enough [[calcium carbonate]] is available to build a really solid shell, such as on some acidic soils on land, various species of slugs occur, and also some snails with thin, translucent shells, mostly or entirely composed of the protein [[conchiolin]].{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Snails such as ''[[Sphincterochila boissieri]]'' and ''[[Xerocrassa seetzeni]]''<!-- syn. Trochoidea seetzeni--> have adapted to desert conditions. Other snails have adapted to an existence in ditches, near deepwater [[hydrothermal vents]], in [[oceanic trench]]es 10,000 meters (6 miles) below the surface,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fukumori |first1=Hiroaki |last2=Takano |first2=Tsuyoshi |last3=Hasegawa |first3=Kazunori |last4=Kano |first4=Yasunori |date=2019 |title=Deepest known gastropod fauna: Species composition and distribution in the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0079661119302307 |journal=Progress in Oceanography |language=en |volume=178 |pages=102176 |doi=10.1016/j.pocean.2019.102176|bibcode=2019PrOce.17802176F }}</ref> the pounding surf of [[rocky shore]]s, [[cave]]s, and many other diverse areas.

Gastropods can be accidentally transferred from one habitat to another by other animals, e.g. by [[bird]]s.<ref>RUSIECKI S. & RUSIECKA A. 2013. [http://www.foliamalacologica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402&catid=114&Itemid=146 Hairy snail ''Trochulus hispidus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) in flight - a note on avian dispersal of snails.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916075630/http://foliamalacologica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402&catid=114&Itemid=146 |date=2013-09-16 }} ''Folia Malacologica'' 21(2):111-112.</ref>