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I found a couple of weird snails in a shipment of plants and took them home, but I can't figure out what they are... The only way I can describe them is as "freshwater marine snails" - i.e., they look more like snails I have seen in reef tanks than ones in freshwater tanks. They have very thick shells with serrated ridges along the whorl, and the snails also seem to have well-developed eyes (unlike freshwater ramshorn and pond snails). The body appears to be black with yellow stripes, and the snail's total length is about 0.75 cm long.

Here are some photos:

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Hi,
A couple of possibilities are found on this site:

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/malacology/fl-snail/snails1.htm

I'm thinking examples 45,46,47,47.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I cannot help much, but i have to say that they are very nice & the pictures you took are well detailed.

I never saw any of those snails around.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Thanks for the replies. I have a new digital camera now (well, technically it's my mom's, but she doesn't know how to use it), so I am finally able to take some halfway decent photos.

It does resemble the Elimia species, particularly E. athearni (the "Knobby Elimia", Fig. 58). The plants did originate in Florida, so it would be reasonable to consider the possibility of their native snails getting shipped elsewhere on occasion. This is the first time I've seen snails like this in the four or five years I've been dealing with aquatic plants. I just wish that website had photos of living snails so I could compare the coloration as well as the shape of the shell.

These snails seem to be very active, and move relatively quickly across the gravel compared to the other snails in my tank. They don't seem to burrow into the gravel at all. I'm wondering if they are good algae eaters, because after I took the first photo I posted, the snail went and started eating the BBA on that pebble (that also came in with some plants, I don't have it growing in my tank). I had to move it to get the other photos, however. I just hope it doesn't go after my plants.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.