Overview

• Giselle Clarkson found Ned in Wairarapa in August and, with New Zealand Geographic, issued a nationwide call for another left‑coiled snail.
• Opposite shell coiling prevents the alignment of reproductive organs, so left‑coiled snails generally must mate with left‑coiled partners.
• The campaign has drawn many public submissions, but most have been right‑coiled snails misidentified as left‑coiled.
• Importing a potential mate from overseas is unlikely under New Zealand biosecurity policy, keeping the search focused locally.
• Researchers estimate only about 1 in 40,000 garden snails are left‑coiled, and a 2017 search for a British snail named Jeremy shows such efforts can succeed.