Ramshorn snail

In a more general natural history context, the term "ramshorn snails" is used more precisely to mean those aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae that have planispiral coiled shells.

The two species commonly found in aquariums are Planorbella duryi and Planorbarius corneus, both in the family Planorbidae.

However, in properly managed aquaria that are free of excess detritus, they are rarely prolific enough to become a nuisance to the home aquarist.

[2] Ramshorn snails are hermaphroditic;[3][4] two organisms of any sex have the ability to breed and produce offspring.

Good fish roommates for snails include, but are not limited to, danios, guppies, White Cloud Mountain minnows, neon tetras, and cory catfish.

One should also be aware that pond-reared red ramshorn snails are able to carry various parasitic flukes, which can be transmitted to fish, or humans.

Most of these flukes require intermediate hosts, so that leaving the snails in a fish-free aquarium for a month or so will eliminate any parasites.

Manual methods include baiting the snails with lettuce (run it under hot water first and leave overnight), cucumber slices, or food pellets.

Crushing the snails by hand as they appear can also effectively limit their population; most ramshorn shells are fragile enough that this is quite easily done.

Snail poisons are generally considered to be a last resort, as most of them are copper-based and are potentially toxic to plants and fish and particularly dangerous to other invertebrates.

Even new safer chemicals that do not harm the other aquarium inhabitants may cause damage if large numbers of dead snails are allowed to decompose.

They are distinguished by having an operculum by which they can close themselves into their shell, two pairs of tentacles, separate genders, and a siphon on the left side.

These apple snails lay gelatinous masses of eggs on submerged portions of plants.