Professor Ke Caihuan of College of Oceanography and Environmental Science at Xiamen University said it is the first time that he heard that a snail can clean people’s eyes and he never saw such a snail before.

Mr. Lin, the snail owner, had kept the snail for 44 years. He said someone who had dust in their eyes can put the snail under the eyelids. It would move on the eyeball and ‘eat’ the dirt. After 10 minutes, you move it from the eyes and put it into clean water, and then it would spit out the dirt.

This snail, which has a glossy and flat carapace, is kept in a small bowl with tea and rice. Mr. Lin said it only lived on the smell of tea and rice. “My elder brother bought it from a Zhejiang merchant in Zhangzhou 44 years ago.” said Mr. Lin.