A snail the size of a pinhead has turned up in Wanstead Park
Citizen Zoo says volunteers, ReNature and the Conchological Society recorded Paralaoma servilis, a microscopic snail it calls "a rarity for the area", during a mollusc survey in Wanstead Park. We could not find an independent record yet.
Wanstead Park has turned up a snail you would need a magnifying glass to spot. Citizen Zoo says a mollusc survey there last week recorded Paralaoma servilis, "a microscopic rarity for the area".
The rewilding charity posted the find on X on 27 October. It said it had spent "a lovely day" in the Park with ReNature and the Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland, surveying for molluscs. That is all the post says, so we have kept this story to what it says: we could not find a published record of the snail yet, and "a rarity for the area" is Citizen Zoo's description, not a national status.
A very small snail
Paralaoma servilis is known as the pinhead spot snail, which tells you the scale. NatureSpot, a wildlife recording site, describes it as 1.5 to 2mm across, found in leaf litter and damp, shady spots, roadsides and gardens. It says the species is a colonist thought to be well established in Britain, but records are scarce because it is so easy to overlook. Wikipedia says its native range is thought to be New Zealand.
So this is not a threatened native hiding in the Park's last corner. It's a tiny incomer that few people had looked for, which is rather the point of the survey.
How it came about
The survey looks to be the one the Wren Conservation Group listed for 19 October, billed as "the first survey of snails in Wanstead Park", led by Nina Hundt and members of the Conchological Society and starting near the Tea Hut. The listing named the German hairy snail, Pseudotrichia rubiginosa, as its main target, a tiny species that Citizen Zoo is mapping across London's waterways this month with partners including the Conchological Society. Citizen Zoo's post doesn't say whether that one turned up. It only mentions the pinhead snail.
Why it matters here
Wanstead Park is one of our best patches of wildlife, and it has had a tough year, with the Ornamental Water running dry. Surveys like this are how small things get counted, and what gets counted tends to get protected. If you fancy looking yourself, bring a lens and a camera: NatureSpot says a photo is normally needed to verify a record.
We will update this if Citizen Zoo or the Conchological Society publishes the record.
