Anetome Helena (Assassin Snails)

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Also known as Clea Helena this, "Snail Eating Snail" is definitely one of my favorite snails. Not only because their striped coloration is quite pretty, but because they help keep pest snail populations under control in my tanks. Growing up in Singapore, these snails were fairly common in aquaria and i'm glad that it has been making it's way here to western aquaria.

These are small - medium sized snails that grow to be about 3/4" in my tanks. They like to hide away from the light, so they spend most of the day buried in the sand or hanging out under pieces of bogwood. When they burrow under the sand, they are so well camouflaged that i sometimes have difficulty telling if they are there. It is extremely interesting during feeding time, to watch the entire ground turn inside out and all the little snails emerging from the substrate. I would recommend having a thin layer (about 1/2" or so) of substrate so that they can burrow under the sand. Otherwise, create lots of shady hidey spots using bogwood or various types of aquarium furniture.

They are very good at eradicating snails that are smaller then themselves, but will generally leave larger snails alone. I've had them with larger Tylomelania snails and they do fine, but they will eat baby Tylomelanias.

Currently they live in pH 7.8. The temperature is 79 F. They don't get any additional supplements besides their daily feeding.

They have this very prominent "nose" (this is a technical term) that sticks out their front and it seems to me like they "smell" the water to find their food. And they are very good at this. Drop in a pellet of food and watch as a bunch of snails descend upon the exact spot to devour it.

FOOD

It is common knowledge that they eat other snails, but it is a common misconception that they ONLY eat other snails. In my experience, they seem to like animal protein. The stinkier (catfish pellets) the more attractive. But on a regular basis, I feed them fish flake, sinking pellets, frozen bloodworms, dead shrimp, frozen mysis and various sinking granulated food. I've also seen one hunt down a live blackworm and suck the life out of it.

Mine have expensive tastes.... Even the Babies!

As long as the food is lying on the floor, the snails will find it. They wrap themselves around the food and use a long "mouth tube thinggie" (another technical term) to suck the insides out of the hapless victim. I keep these with my dwarf shrimp and while i have never seen it actually attack a live shrimp, i've seen it devour a dead shrimp from the inside out, leaving a perfectly formed shrimp exoskeleton when it's done. I'm guessing they also use this "mouth tube" to get inside other snails in order to suck them out.

REPRODUCTION

These are fairly easy to reproduce as long as there is sufficient food for the young. You know they are mating when you notice that several smaller ones are swarming a large one. I'm guessing that the the large one is the female and the males are clamoring for her "love".

These are egg layers and lay a bunch of single eggs all over the tank. Each white egg is encased in a little translucent packet of jelly, which protects the eggs and developing baby from the elements. Each of these "packets" look like a piece of transparent ravioli with the egg clearly visible in the center. They young are tiny and can get lost among the grains of sand. Be careful when you are vacuuming your tank, not to suck up too much substrate if you know that there are young present.

CONCLUSION

A. Helena are a great addition to any tank, not only are they pretty to look at, they do a fairly good job at controlling pest snails. Feed them sinking meaty foods. They are easy to breed if given the right conditions and plenty of food is supplied for the young.

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PLUG

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