Gong-gong Snail

Yes, this species is the gong-gong snail that you can find in wet markets and zi-char stalls in Singapore! If you have eaten the gong-gong snail before, you may remember grabbing its “claw” and pulling the body of the gong-gong snail out from its shell. That hard “claw” is called an operculum. A live gong-gong snail uses its powerful operculum to dig into the sand and drag itself forward!

Fortunately, the local conservation status of the gong-gong snail is still listed as “least concern”, meaning gong-gong snails are not yet threatened in Singapore. However, this does not mean we should recklessly harvest gong-gong snails!