[thedoc (OP)]

Ed Wilson  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
If you put a snail (African land snail in the case I looked at) on a piece of glass and watch it from underneath you see waves of movement from back to front of the animal - opposite to the direction of travel. What is the muscle action which moves it forward?

Also, looking at a path where snails (normal British garden snails this time) have crossed there is a dotted line of dried slime. Do snails exude in bursts or tiptoe across the path?

Ed Wilson

What do you think?

[grizelda]

It seems you would see waves of movement as the snail lifted its appendages forward for the next step. You would not see movement of the appendages during the actual step as it is the snail that moves.