Super Sea Snails are powerful creatures that can upgrade your gear. But you'll need to find a specialist... Someone who knows how to unlock the power of Super Sea Snails. I hate to say it, but maybe you should check that sketchy back alley. Super Sea Snails are mega valuable. Don't let 'em go to waste!
”
— Receiving Super Sea Snails for the first time in Splatoon.
Super Sea Snails are a species and type of currency in Splatoon and Splatoon 2. Their sole use is to add sub ability slots into a piece of gear (for up to three secondary gear ability slots) or reroll all three secondary gear abilities on a piece of gear.
Judd awards Super Sea Snails to players that talk to him after winning thirty Regular Battles or Ranked Battles. The wins do not need to be part of a consecutive win streak. Judd stocks up multiple snails indefinitely as the player racks up wins, even if the stage rotation changes. If more than nine snails are stockpiled, Judd gives the player nine for every instance he is spoken to and continues to do so until the amount of snails that were stockpiled is reached. After the last Splatfest in the game, this is now the only way to acquire Super Sea Snails.
While Splatfests were occurring, Super Sea Snails were awarded to participants based on their Splatfest title and on whether or not their team won. Users who participated could win at least two Super Sea Snails and up to 24 if the player's team was the winner while the player was at the highest tier.
Title
Total EXP required
Super Sea Snails
Winning team
Losing team
[Team] Fanboy/Fangirl
–
4
2
[Team] Fiend
10
6
3
[Team] Defender
35
10
5
[Team] Champion
85
16
10
[Team] King/Queen
184
24
18
Use
Super Sea Snails may be given to Spyke, who uses them to add sub ability slots into a piece of gear or reroll all three secondary gear abilities on a piece of gear. If the player is at level 20 or higher and has no remaining Super Sea Snails, they can instead pay with 30,000 cash for these services.
Splatoon 2
Earning
Judd awards Super Sea Snails to players that talk to him after reaching level 30, where one snail is stockpiled indefinitely for each level past 30 (inclusive). Unlike in Splatoon, Judd gives all stockpiled snails at once. Players who reach level 99 or level ★99 may reset to level ★1 again, so an unlimited amount of Super Sea Snails can be gained this way. After the last Splatfest in the game, this is the only way to obtain the Super Sea Snails.
Level
Points (Minimum)
Points (To next)
Super Sea Snails
30
903,900
62,000
+001
31
965,900
65,500
+001
32
1,031,400
69,000
+001
33
1,110,400
72,500
+001
34
1,172,900
76,000
+001
35
1,248,900
79,000
+001
36
1,327,900
82,000
+001
37
1,409,900
85,000
+001
38
1,494,900
88,000
+001
39
1,582,900
90,000
+001
40
1,672,900
92,000
+001
41
1,764,900
94,000
+001
42
1,858,900
95,000
+001
43
1,953,900
96,000
+001
44
2,049,900
97,000
+001
45
2,146,900
98,000
+001
46
2,244,900
98,500
+001
47
2,343,400
99,000
+001
48
2,442,400
99,500
+001
49+
2,541,900
100,000
+001
While Splatfests were occurring, at the end of each Splatfest, Super Sea Snails were awarded to participants based on their Splatfest title and on whether or not their team won.
Title
Total EXP required
Super Sea Snails
Winning team
Losing team
[Team] Fanboy/Fangirl
–
3
2
[Team] Fiend
100
5
3
[Team] Defender
350
9
7
[Team] Champion
850
16
13
[Team] King/Queen
1849
24
21
Use
Super Sea Snails may be given to Murch, who uses them to add sub ability slots into a piece of gear or reroll all three secondary gear abilities on a piece of gear. Unlike in Splatoon, there is no option to pay with cash for these services even if the player runs out of Super Sea Snails.
The gear slot properties of Super Sea Snails seem to lie more in their actual shells than the snails themselves, which according to Spyke are "juicy". This implies the snails are irrelevant to the process but can be consumed by certain species like urchins.
Super Sea Snails seem to be capable of fear: when looking at the ones owned by Spyke and Murch, it is possible to see them shake as if certain of their fate of being consumed by Spyke and Murch.
Super Sea Snails may be based on the Turbo sazae snail, considering the "サザエ" (sazae) in the Japanese name is the same as the name of the species.
In Splatoon, a total of 322 are needed to fill every gear slot, if the player does not use cash. As of Version 2.10.0, if one wanted to gain at least that many snails - excluding any that Judd awards for winning matches - they need to have won at least six out of sixteen total Splatfests (assuming they reach King/Queen rank every time).
In Splatoon 2, a total of 559 are needed to fill every gear slot. If one wanted to gain at least that many snails - excluding any that Judd awards for leveling up - they need to have won at least twenty-four of the twenty-six Splatfests from Mayo vs. Ketchup (2017) to Chaos vs. Order (assuming they reach King/Queen rank every time).