The mass-specific accumulation rates (MSAR) of both total (TFAC) and individual free amino compounds (FAC) in conditioned media were measured by HPLC, using the orthophthaldialdehyde (OPA) methods, in the following cases: (a) laboratory-reared freshwater snails ( B. glabrata) with chemosterilized shells; (b) Biomphalaria glabrata with non-chemosterilized shells; (c) B. glabrata faeces; (d) isolated shells of B. glabrata; and (e) 10 other species of freshwater gastropods from the Lewes Brooks, East Sussex, U.K. The MSAR values for B. glabrata show that 95% of the TFAC's (predominantly ethanolamine, phosphoserine, and the amino acids leucine, isoleucine, valine, aspartic acid, and glycine/threonine) originated from the snails themselves as the faeces and shells contributed only 5.0 and 0%, respectively. In contrast, epizootic organisms on the shells of all 10 snail species from the Lewes Brooks released significant amounts of FAC with the two smallest species ( Planorbis vortex and Planorbis contortus) having the highest MSAR values. The MSAR for isolated B. glabrata mucus was 42.45 μmol·g −1h −1. As 500 mg snails can release 16.67 mg of mucus daily, this could potentially result in the daily loss of 707.5 μmol of FAC. The cost/benefits of mucus secretion and the various anatomical, physiological, biochemical, and ecological mechanisms which allow freshwater snails to recover FAC's lost as a result of a high rate of urine production in their hypotonic environment, are discussed.