I was interested in this snail after having a plague of MTS (Malaysian trumpet snail) that no chemical nor natural eradication such as : botia and puffer fish did not succeed eliminating them .
As I was roaming the Internet I encounter an article about a snail that eat other pest snailIt was known in several names : Helena Snail Assassin Snail Killer Snail
But first of let us classify this snail
- Kingdom Animalia: Metoza
- Phyllum: Mollusca
- Class: Gastropoda Orthogastropoda Caenogastropoda Cox, 1959
- Order: Sorbeoconcha Hypsogastropoda Muricoidea da Costa, 1776
- Family: Buccinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- Senus: Anentome Cossmann, 1901
- Species: Anentome Helena/Clea Helena*
- Common Name: Assassin Snail/Killer Snail
- Diet: Carnivorous/Scavenager
- Temp: 74-82
- PH: 6.2-8.2
- Size: 1"
Soon enough this Snail was imported back here And I purchase 6 of them and I've put them in my Red Cherry Shrimp full of MTS Ramshorn Snail and PS (Pond Snail)
Immediately I noticed they started hunting down first the Ramshorn Snail which were the easiest to catch and devour since their body is big so they could grasp quickly and they don't have trapping door to hide in .
Soon enough they moved to the PS and the MTS
I notice that those snail "recognize " the helenas because they went immediately to the tank water level and stayed there until the helenas started climbing to them .
Also Assassins Snail will gang feed on a snail larger than themselves, I saw 3 helenas gang up on a larger MTS two of them were holding down the snail while the third was eating, They have also been known to gang up on larger snails like the Apple/Mystery snails to take them down , Also they will active chase prey when push come to shove , As far as known Assassins don't eat their own kind .
Also the have a technique they will bury themselves in the gravel/sand and only their trunk is shown If unfortunate snail will pass they will trap and get hold on him
** The Trunk appendage is used to smell and hunting , Assassins feed by first grasping the prey and then inserting a feeding tube into the snails shell and basically liquefying the snail and
sucking out the remains .
One thing that is becoming a stronger belief is that Assassins may inject a paralytic toxin into their prey, which help them digest their prey.
Reproduction : Assassin snail have male and female and unlike other snail they are not hermaphrodite (has male&female reproduction ) but it is impossible to recognize between them
some say the female are more round but it is not certain .
the Assassin snail lays eggs which look like capsules , single batch can be from 2 eggs till 15
Depending on the supply of prey snail
The egg normally hatch after 3-4 weeks depending on temperature
At 25 Celsius 3-4 weeks
At 26-27 Celsius 2 weeks
Under observation it was found that Assassin snail babies when hatching are climbing to high point and drifting in the Aquarium currents
That is why is is very important to cover the filter inlet !!
here is a picture of small babies in my tank they are 4 m''m and about 3 weeks old
The helenas babies bury themselves in the gravel and are not seen until they are at the size above .the Assassin snail will prefer meaty food but when they wont find snail they will eat fish food and plant detritus
**Important pointer : Assassin snails are shrimp-safe BUT are able to eat shrimp
This happened if the shrimp doesn't move at all even when the snail is trying to catch it , of course that occur only when the shrimp is already dead .
Assassin snails will eat every snail at their size even slightly bigger .
For conclusion :
Beautiful snail , highly efficient getting rid of pest snail slow breeder (so it wont over populate )
But beware not to release this snail to the wild as this is an opportunist snail and can influence your wildlife habitat severely .
This article was written by my experience and was rely on an article by William( Sounguru) at the Arizona Invert Forum http://arizonainverts.com/forums/?showtopic=204
