rabbit snails
Tylomelania sp
Long-shelled freshwater snails with a slow, endearing personality all their own.
About
Rabbit snails (Tylomelania sp.) are a group of large, elongated freshwater snails native to the ancient lakes of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Particularly lakes Towuti, Poso, and Matano. Their common name comes from their wrinkled, almost floppy facial skin and long antennae, which give them a vaguely rabbit-like appearance when they're out and moving around. The shells themselves are tall and turreted, ranging in color from near-black to orange and yellow depending on the variant, and the body color can vary just as dramatically across different forms. In the aquarium they move with a deliberate, unhurried pace, grazing on biofilm, soft algae, and decaying plant matter. They leave healthy plants alone, which makes them a genuinely useful addition to a planted setup. Reproduction is slow. They give birth to single, fully formed young rather than laying masses of eggs, so populations won't get out of hand the way pond snails sometimes do. Because they come from ancient, stable lake environments, they do appreciate consistent water conditions and are best suited to keepers who already have a handle on maintaining a stable tank. Given that, they're fairly hardy and rewarding snails to keep.
Similar species
Other invertebrate you might consider
Good tank mates
Species that tend to coexist peacefully with rabbit snails
Frequently asked questions
- Is the rabbit snails aggressive?
- The rabbit snails is generally peaceful and suits a community tank with similarly calm tankmates.
- What does the rabbit snails eat?
- The rabbit snails is a herbivore. It needs a plant-based diet such as algae, blanched vegetables, or spirulina-based foods.