The Assassin Snail
I became interested in this little snail when I began to be over run with MTS. I was looking for a new and non toxic way to remove the excess snails from my tanks, little did I know it would lead to an obsession with inverts. So off into the happy world of the internet I went only to end up more confused and lost than when I started. The person who says ingorance is bliss got it so right. Now in no way is this ment to be a definative article but more or less a place to gather all of the info I can find and put it into a format that may help someone else interested in these neat little snails.
So here is what I have found:
- Super Family: Muricoidea
- Family: Buccinidae
- Genus: Clea?
- Subgenus: Anentome?
- Specific Name: Helena
- Scientific Name: Clea Helena/Anentome Helena?
- Common Name: Assassin Snail/Killer Snail
- Diet: Carnivorous/Scavenager
- Temp: 74-82
- PH: 6.2-8.2
- Size: 1"
*There is a ? mark by anything that may not be entirely accurate Now from what I have been able to deduce there are 11 very similar snails spread all over Asia with the closest relative in Thialand. The Thialand Snail from what I have been able to deduce is actually Clea Helena where the Clea Anentome Helena is the Indonesia species we call the Assassin Snail. So I wonder if the Clea has the same habits why we have not seen it in the trade before, although I will admit the markings on the Anentome are a lot more defined and colorful. Basically all 11 are freashwater Welks snails and feed off of mainly meaty remains or as in the case of our sweet little snail, will hunt down other live snails. From what I have been able to gather all 11 will hunt down other snails but that has not been confirmed.
Our Assassin Sails as we know them were first described in 1847 but did not appear in the hobby until around 2007 due to a whole lot of different reasons. Found in the Sulawesi region of Indonesia they are present in ponds, rivers, streams, and lakes throughout the region so they are a hardy little snail. I keep mine in a 15 gallon tank with loads of MTS, PS, and Cherry Shrimp. The 5 adults I originnaly recieved dove in after a coule of days and started hunting down MTS like there was no tomorrow. I can say that they will eat on average 1 snail a day, half to half again their size. They do have a preferance for snails like the PS where the body is easier to pull out and there is no door for the victim to pull back and hide behind. Although they will pry the door off in good time and suck the MTS down I have seen them track like a cruise missle all the way across the tank to get a PS and passed up the slower MTS to chase down the PS and devour it. I put 3 PS in my tank to start a colony for the baby Assassins and all but 1 was gone in less than 24 hours. The last PS's days are nunbered I'm sure. Right now the PS hangs at the top of a Val where the Assassin's can't get to it. I was lucky in the fact that they did lay 3 egg batches before being devoured.
Assassin taking down an MTS half it size bigger.
Now one thing that is know is you do need a male and a female to get any eggs. At this time I do not know of anyway to sex them and I don't know if there is, I have only been able to sex mine by watching and I can only say I have 2 femals and 1 male at this point 2 have yet to be identified. Will say that both my females are the alrgest 2 snails in the tank and the smaller male will latch on to one or the other and ride around the tank for 1/2 a day or more with her. This only happens after all 3 snails have fed.
Another rumour that has been going around is that Assassins are live bearers that too is a myth here is a picture of an egg casing.
It was rumoured that they will only lay eggs when live food is present and every 10 days well that is also not true as seen by this picture.
That is after only 5 days and only 2 confirmed females, that is also only one of 6 plants and does not show the eggs scattered on the substrate. What I have found is that they have not laid any eggs on the wood, glass, or larger rocks in the tank, making me believe they are mainly found in areas with a pebble based substrate and stiff plants that can bear their weight. I have not heard anyone say that they will lay the eggs on a sand substrate and the one person who reported they laid on the wood stated his tank had weaker plants and only wood with a sand base. I also have it from several people that they will continue to lay eggs as long as there is meaty foods like frozen blood worms present, I have not confirmed this myself but it would be easy to do and I may at some point do so. Basically in conclusion of this point wether they will continue to lay as long as there is a steady meaty food source around has not 100% been confirmed, but I would say it is very likely. In the absence of meaty foods it has been reported that they will survive on regular fish food. Well look at your labels folks most fish foods have a high protien count. I do not know if they could survive without meaty foods and really don't want to try it myself but once I have a colony big enough I can spare a few I might just to confirm or debunk this rumour as it help all who want to keep these guys keep them happy.
Now as far as hatching and growth go it seems both of these are a rather long process. With only one egg per case they will not become as invasive in your tanks as some species, but they could become the only species in a hurry. From what I have been able to gather it take 3 to 4 weeks for he eggs to hatch and that long if not longer before you will be able to readily spot the youngsters. The growth of these snails is slow comapred to other I have heard 4 to 8 months to reach full size. Also with needing one of each species as soon as you can confirm the females you can remove them to another tank and that will stop any egg production, or since the eggs are so large an easy to see just remove the eggs.
So in conclusion please keep in mind as with all animals never release any into the wild I can see how these could become a real invasive species very quickly. I will aslo add to this as I make more observations or more confirmable facts come to light.
MTS = Malaysian Tunneling/Trumpet Snail
PS = Pond Snail
Assassin Snails A little about them. 
Red tailed catfish
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