#tiger snail

[angeryboi219]

Got some snails to combat an algae issue. I love them so much already though??? Bluejay is miffed

[gory-and-gorgeous]

An old monster drawing I never really finished. I still love his design

[battlewithmentalhealth]

Today was actually a decent day, spent most of it chilling with my snails as it was snail mix day. (They have it twice a week). I have such pretty snails. 😊😊❤️❤️😍😍

[kvalenagle]

Tigersnail

I sometimes like to extrapolate from my cats' behavior into the natural instincts of all felines, wild and domestic.

To speak to that point… Indalecia carries around what we call her snail shell. It's a collapsible kitty bed. She'll often squish it down into a bed, but she can also puff it back up into a shell form.

For years, I assumed Glenn was moving the snail shell around for Indi, puffing it back up for her, until he was away at work and I started noticing that it changed rooms and whether it was a bed or shell every morning.

Though it was Glenn who put it on top of the foot rest here for Indi to nap in. She seems to really like having it up high.

Anyways, I like to imagine tiger snails doing this in the wild.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Credit: landsnails.org

Giant African Snails

Swell Shells: The World’s Most Amazing Snails

Giant African Snails (Achatina achatina) aren’t actually “giant”, unless you’re looking at one from the viewpoint of an average snail. Even so, these land snails ARE shockingly large: specimens observed in the wild have measured up to 30x15cm or a full foot long.

Owing to their large size and attractively marked shells, Giant African Snails (also known as Giant Ghana Snails or Tiger Snails) have been illegally imported to the United States where, in Florida at least, they’re now considered to be a worrisome invasive species. Although they move slowly – giant or not, they’re still snails – the voracious creatures have proven to be a troublesome pest that is difficult to fully eradicate.

Credit: landsnails.org

Credit: michaelnewport1 - flickr

[clutteredvoices]

The aquarium tag makes me want to redo my tank to give the grump more room to swim and less room to ambush the snail lol 

[chronodendron-blog]

I had another fight with my _Schistura_ loach today. He spent a little time out front, and I thought I could sneak up on him to get some photographs. Once again, he was too swift for me, and all I got were some greyish blurs. But the tiger snail was much more accommodating and I got some excellent shots of its shell, to supplement the pictures of its underside from earlier in the month. Also, I think one of its eyes is visible in one of these shots - either that, or it's a bubble. But I think it's probably an eye.

The first thing I want to talk about is the shell damage which is clearly visible in these shots. Snails are pretty stupid, on average, but this case really highlights that lack of brainpower. I have three large flat building stones in my aquarium, arranged in such a manner that the bottom feeders have several hiding places. There's a "cave" and an "overhang", and at either end there are little sheltered spaces where the stones come close to the glass. Algae seems to thrive around the edges of the stones, particularly where they contact the glass, and the snail has spent a lot of time in those areas. When it was new, this did not present a problem, as it was small enough to fit in these spaces easily. But it has been steadily growing - and at some point, it became too large to fit in those spaces without scraping its shell against the rough stones. This did not stop it from trying, though, and over a period of several months it has scraped the periostracum right off of the apical portion of the shell. In a few shots you can actually see the narrow band of new periostracum which is beginning to creep back over the exposed calcium carbonate. You can also see the snails viscera as a vague pinkish blur through the transparent portion.

The African tiger snail is a member of the genus _Neritina_, a relatively large genus which is primarily marine but has produced several lineages that have adapted to brackish conditions, and have in turn produced a few strictly fresh-water species. This species, _Neritina natalensis_, belongs firmly within the latter category, and although it is from tropical Africa it can adjust well to cold water aquaria such as my own. In the wild it is being over-exploited as a food source, but it breeds well in captivity and is one of the more commonly available species. _Neritina_ is part of a modestly-sized family, the Neritidae, named after the marine genus _Nerita_. Many nerites are important food animals, some of the marine species have been key items in the diets of coastal peoples throughout the world since humans first started acting like humans. Pre-agricultural societies have tended to leave behind refuse heaps called "middens", these build up to enormous sizes over hundreds of years of continuous use, and in many parts of the world nerite shells make up a sizeable percentage of midden contents.

Finally, you might notice a difference between the patterning on the upper and lower portions of the front of the shell. This is due to the snails growth; the upper portion represents how large the shell was when I purchased the snail, and everything below the "dividing line" has grown since that time. In the store, this snail was in a heated aquarium; mine is unheated. I presume that its subsequent growth has been much slower that it would be in a heated environment, hence the slight difference between the two regions of shell. It would be a stunningly beautiful shell if not for the damage to its apex.