Ramshorn Snail (Planorbis Sp.)

Ramshorn Snail

Occurrence

This is a freshwater species, which in natural conditions is widely spread throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. Its habitats are primarily standing waters: fish ponds, forest ponds, marshes, lakes, canals. It usually stays in the shallows, on any type of substrate.

External appearance

There are many species with different colors, as well as different color variations of the same species. Basic versions - wild - are usually characterized by a brown shell color and a dark body. In aquarium breeding, we most often deal with the following species of planorbs: red planorb (Planorbis rubrum), pink planorb (Planorbella sp. pink), common planorb (Planorbis planorbis), horned planorb (Planorbarius corneus), Planorbella duryi and their color variations. Generally, all planorbs have a shiny, spiral shell with 5-6 turns gradually increasing, in yellowish, red, olive or brown color, often with darker spots. The aperture is almost round, slightly widened. The bodies of planorbs are usually red, pinkish, orange or black, often with small spots. Planorbs have long tentacles, at the base of which there are small, black eyes, and also a characteristic toothed radula for scraping off food. However, they do not have an operculum to close the shell. Planorbs breathe air drawn from the atmosphere using an organ resembling a lung (it is a vascular wall of the mantle cavity).

Temperament

Planorbs regularly crawl under the surface of the water to draw air. Often, to speed up this "transport", they use accumulated air. You can observe how snails release air bubbles from inside their shells. They use them as "ballast", when they need to quickly surface or when they want to quickly sink to the bottom. These snails are active practically all the time, scraping algae from various surfaces and plants or searching the bottom. They do not eat healthy plants, they may only occasionally damage the more delicate ones when cleaning them of algae. They may try to dig into the substrate, but they do not cause any harm while doing this. They can be kept with shrimps and peaceful fish without any problems. If we are not struggling with their plague, and the population is under control, we avoid natural predators (fish, snails, crabs and crayfish).

Aquarium

In the case of planorbs, the bottom surface of the tank is not so important, as these snails move quite freely around the entire aquarium. Moderate to weak water movement is required here, effective filtration and systematic partial water changes (they like good water quality). Scattered light, or possibly adding a few shaded hiding places seems to be a good idea. Adding calcium (in the form of powdered corals, powdered marble, limestone or freshwater mollusk shells) will be necessary for the proper development of our wards' shells.

Reproduction

They are oviparous species. These snails easily commence reproduction, especially when the environment is rich in food. Planorbs are hermaphrodites. Each snail has both female and male organs and sex cells. During copulation (internal fertilization) both snails mutually exchange male cells - sperm, which ultimately leads to fertilization of both copulating snails (cross fertilization). Sperm are collected in the sperm tanks and are released only during laying eggs, a few days later. Eggs are laid in egg capsules (gelatinous shell) - the number depends on the specific species. During development, you can easily see the white embryos, which over time transform into tiny snails. Young hatchlings emerge after a few weeks (this depends on the water temperature, the higher it is, the quicker it happens). Young snails usually hide until their shell fully hardens. Having several different species/colors of this snail, one should remember that they interbreed, which usually results in the birth of young in the basic version (brown).

Food

Planorbs are herbivores and scavengers. Their main food is algae and detritus (dead organic matter). They are good cleaners of tanks. They can also be easily fed with fresh vegetables, plant food for fish.