Though snails and slugs (Gastropoda) make the most various group and also the richest in species among all molluscs (Mollusca), their locomotion can usually be deducted to one specialised organ common to all their basic body plans.
The Foot
The cumbersome path of a Roman snail through the under-
growth shows us the snail's foot sole. [RN]
The so-called foot is the largest part of a gastropod's body visible outside of the shell. Most gastropods' foot is developed to a flat crawling sole at its lower (ventral) side. This points to the most frequent way of snail locomotion: Crawling.
Crawling
We know this method of locomotion best from terrestrial snails, simply because those are most often observed, at least with the right weather prevailing. We have described already, using the example of the Roman snail (Helix pomatia), how locomotion works in a gastropod: The snail makes wave-like movements of the sole, which carry its body forward.
NOVA Science Now: Snail Slime. Source: PBS on YouTube.
As snails move in a specified direction, other than, for example, their relatives, the mussels and clams (Bivalvia), they also developed a head at the front end of the foot, with most of the snail's sense cells and organs, with tentacles and eyes. It is hard to see, where the head ends and the foot begins, so both together are called a head-foot or cephalopodium, which is a typical character of all gastropods.
Locomotion of a terrestrial snail (Roman snail Helix pomatia).
Movie: Ventral side of a crawling snail (Cornu aspersum). [RN] MOV-File, ca. 2 MB.
Where they crawl, snails leave behind a characteristic, proverbial slime trace, because a large gland at the foot sole's front end produces large amounts of mucus the snail crawls on. The mucus reduces friction between the foot sole and the ground, enab