Sea snails are marine gastropods, members of the phylum Mollusca. They appear frequently in the series, as animals that are commonly kept as pets. SpongeBob's pet snail, Gary, is a one of the most prominent characters in the series.
Characters
The characters who belong to this phylum are:
- Gary the Snail
- Prehistoric Gary
- Mary the Snail
- Thea
- Snellie
- Miss Tuffsy
- Dream Gary
- Rock snail (Nature Pants)
- Larry the Snail
- Jerry
- Larry Luciano
- Esmerelda
- Alley snails
- Mary's ex-boyfriend
- Billy the Snail
- Bully snail
- Baby snails
- Dani
- Snail mom
- Orange snail
- The snail that keeps vomiting on the floor
- Dave's snail
- Boogala Shrimp the Snail
- Picture-framed snails
- Dave's snail
- Annette
- The Snail Who Shall Not Be Named
- Ghost snail
- Mavis
- Large snail
- Jellien Gary
- Mavis Jr.
- Viva
- Old Ironsides
- Mr. Buster
- Mrs. Buster
- Electric Ronnie
- Haibi
- Daniel the Snail
- Carmela
- Victoria the Snail
- Snail monster
- Ed the Snail
- Black snail (Bad Luck Day)
- Black snail ("One Krabs Trash")
- Muscular Gary
- Elderly snail
- Sea whelks
- Foofie
- Andy
- Party snails
- Obulax
- Henry the Snail
- Diane
- Tom the Snail
- Pat the Snail
- Rhonda
- Papa Dup
- Garibaldi
- Ava
- Brenda
- Cheryl
- Drake the Snail
- Lawrence Whelk
- Littorina
- Muffsies the Snail
- Pam
- Paul the Snail
- Sean
- Steve the Snail
- Ted
- Vince
- Louie
- Fabio
- Snail Fail (in-universe cartoon character)
Description
Sea snails in the series exhibit characteristics of a real-world feline, in that they "Meow" as a means of communication, and screech like cats when distressed. Like cats, they seem to loathe taking baths, as seen in "Gary Takes a Bath," "Shellback Shenanigans," and "Pet Sitter Pat." Snails have rarely been seen speaking English to one another, such as the alley snails and Mary's ex-boyfriend. However, they cannot communicate with anthropomorphic characters this way. Gary was able to be understood by SpongeBob when he said the words "no" and "Plankton", in "The Secret Box" and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, respectively. As seen in "Chatterbox Gary", translator collars exist that allow pet snails to verbally communicate with other species.
Diet
Snails are usually seen eating pet foods made for them, most notably Snail-Po. However, there have been occasions where they have consumed foods meant for anthropomorphic characters; the alley snails from the episode "Have You Seen This Snail?" are shown to like nachos, and Gary is shown eating cookies in the same episode as well as "Dumped." He also eats a potato chip in "I Had an Accident." Also, in several episodes, it is suggested that Gary chews up the sofa in SpongeBob's living room whenever the latter is gone for long periods of time and not around to feed him. Snails seem to have little control over their appetites when food is available, as seen in "Have You Seen This Snail?" and "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?", where Gary eats so much that he compromises his own health.
Biology
All sea snails in the series have eyestalks with large, round eyes, and while large, round shells are the most frequently seen, snails may also have flatter, limpet-like shells. Unlike real-world snails, snails in this setting are able to easily and safely have their shells removed, similarly to real-world hermit crabs. It is common for pet snails' shells to break and need to be replaced, and new shells can be purchased at stores like Angry Jack's Shell Emporium.
Like real-world snails, snails in the series produce large quantities of slime to keep themselves moist and help them travel. In "Once Bitten", this slime is shown to be slippery, and in "Gary & Spot", Gary is able to create things out of his slime. In "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run", snail slime is used as a skin care product, though this usage is detrimental to the snail's health.
External links
- Sea snail on Wikipedia
