Snails: Plant Eater or Not?

[Melody]

Following is a list, info & photo's to assist you in identifying plant-eating and non-plant-eating species of snails found in the aquarium trade.

Non-Plant-Eating Snails
(These snails will not eat HEALTHY plant tissue)

Physa - 'Pest Snail' or 'Pond Snail'
Planorbid - 'Ramshorn' or 'Pest Snail'
Melanoides tuberculata (MTS) - 'Trumpet Snail'
Melanoides granifera
Known Brotia species - 'Thorny Snail'
Pomacea Bridgesii - 'Spiketop Applesnail', 'Applesnail' or 'Mystery Snail'
Asolene Spixi - 'Spixi'
Neritidae - 'Nerites'
Viviparid - Most common is the 'Japanese Trapdoor Snail' or more recently the 'Zebra Snail'.
Anentome helena - Assassin Snails

Plant-Eating Snails

Marisa cornuarietis - 'Giant Columbian Ramshorn'
Pomacea canaliculata - 'Cana', 'Channeled Applesnail' 'Applesnail' or 'Mystery Snail'
Pomacea haustrum - 'Titan Applesnail', 'Dr. Seus Snail' or 'Applesnail'
Pomacea insularum - 'Applesnail'
Pomacea paludosa - 'Pal', 'Florida Applesnail' or 'Applesnail'
'Salton Sea Applesnail' (As yet not scientifically ID'ed)


Eloeda Densa, 'Anacharis' has been reported repeatedly as safe with even the plant-eating snails. My experience with Marisas, Canas and Haustrum backs that observation. I read a study that indicates Water Hyacinth is also safe from plant-eaters, but I haven't tested it. Tropica says that the herbivorous fish don't eat the following plants. Snails can be pretty relentless but it's worth a shot with the plant-eaters. I know that Anubias is safe with Marisas, or mine was, but I'm not sure you could trust anything with a Cana.

Anubias barteri ''coffeefolia''
Anubias barteri var. angustifolia
Anubias barteri var. barteri
Anubias barteri var. caladiifolia ''1705''
Anubias barteri var. nana
Bolbitis heudelotii
Crinum calamistratum
Crinum natans
Crinum thaianum
Echinodorus osiris
Echinodorus x barthii
Microsorum pteropus ''Undulata''
Microsorum pteropus
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'
Microsorum pteropus 'Philippine'
Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
Staurogyne sp.
Vallisneria americana (gigantea)

Marisas are not avid plant eaters in my experience. They eat plants, no doubt about it, but they don't mow them like other snails and they don't eat all plant species. I have had an Anubias in with them for well over a year now, for example. I do feed fresh vegies, so that may make a difference as well.

ID Tip: The most commonly confused snails in stores are the most dangerous to confuse. One eats plants (Cana) and one doesn't (P. Bridgesii). Both are often sold simply as "Applesnails" or "Mystery Snails". It is difficult to tell the difference between the two as they both come in gold and dark striped colors. Here are pictures of Gold P. Bridgesii and a Gold Cana - you can see how easily they could be confused:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Cana_Spixi.jpg ___ http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Gold-P.jpg

However, if the snail is Ivory, Blue or other 'designer' colors, it is a P. Bridgesii. In the majority of cases, color alone is not a good way to ID a species, but in this case it will work for the designer colors.

There is excellent information and diagrams available at the Applesnail.net website. To get you started, photo's of some species follow, but keep in mind that many of these snails can come in several colors/patterns.

NON-PLANT-EATERS

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Physa.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-RedRamshorns.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-BrownRamshorn.jpg http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Blue_Ramshorn_Snails.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Trumpet_Snails.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-BrotiaSpecies.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Magenta-P-Bridgesii.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-A-Spixi_Applesnail-2.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-NeriteSnails2.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Vivs.jpg



PLANT-EATERS

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Marisas3b.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Canas_Haustrum.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-P-Haustrums.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/MM-Saltons.jpg

If you have anything to add, including photos of the snails I don't have, please feel free to post.


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[Melody]

If you are trying to ID an Applesnail to find out if it is a plant eater or not, there is a useful ID guide published by Florida Fish & Wildlife. If you are buying from a breeder and they don't know the species, you can even have them look at the guide and ask what the eggs look like for easier identification.

Non-Native Applesnails In Florida (http://www.floridaconservation.org/nonnatives/Docs/FWC_applesnails_FLMS_handout.pdf)

[Gypsybear]

Thank you for the awesome visual and clear info:)

[Ursus sapien]

In my tanks, ramshorn utterly shred riccia, and eat holes in pennywort. Pocket snails (physa), will eat salvinia and duckeweed when the pickings get slim.

[Melody]

Something is making the plants soft enough to eat. The key phrase is "these snails will not eat healthy plant tissue". If the plant tissue is weakened for another reason (nutrients, lighting, melting, etc), they will be able to eat them. Duckweed, for example, is constantly dying off and growing new leaves - the dead and dying plant tissue can be eaten by the non-plant-eaters. It isn't that non-plant-eating snails don't want to eat your healthy plants, they'd love to, but they're physically incapable of doing so. They can, in fact, starve to death in a planted tank.

Thanks for your comments!

[Ursus sapien]

Turns out I have physa snails and radlx- in this instance, a small, soft plant nibbling pond snail.