Robbery tower snail
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Robbery tower snail ( Clea helena ) |
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| Clea Helena | ||||||||||||
| ( Philippi , 1847) |
The robbery tower snail ( Clea helena , Syn . : Anentome helena ) is a carnivorous freshwater snail from the Nassariidae family . It is widespread in Southeast Asia.
features
The shell of the robbery tower snail is conical, tower-shaped to slim-tower-shaped. In the adult stage, it measures 18 to 28 mm in height and 7 to 13 mm in diameter. The basic color is yellow to olive brown, uniformly colored or with one to three brown spiral bands; one band below the suture , one band at the periphery and one band at the base of the perimeter. The shape of the case, ornamentation and color scheme are highly variable within the type. The shell is firm and not translucent. The ornamentation varies greatly, the whorls are usually covered with axial ribs of varying degrees, which are very rarely missing. Six to eight turns are formed. The last passage is drawn out into a broad, short siphonal extension. The opening in the case is relatively large and oval, and the edge of the mouth is sharp. A callus is formed in the parietal region . The soft body is brownish in color, the relatively large foot white. Outwardly striking is the trunk , which can be stretched far forward. The two antennae that are characteristic of snails are slightly curved. The eyes are at the base of the antennae. The radula has three teeth per transverse row. The middle tooth (rachis) has seven tips, one to three of which may be missing. The side teeth show three points, a large curved point and two smaller points. There is an operculum with which the mouth can be closed. It is almond-shaped with a basal nucleus and concentric strips of growth.
Geographical occurrence and habitat
The robbery tower snail is widespread in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand), where it not only inhabits flowing waters, but also occurs in stagnant waters. It lives mainly on the ground and prefers fine-grained substrates, but also lives on hard ground.
Way of life
The species mainly lives on carrion, but also eats other snails living in the water and their clutches as well as worms. The animals are of separate sex. The males fertilize the females. After a few days, clutches are deposited on hard substrate, which often only contain one egg. Depending on the temperature, the young hatch after two to six weeks.
Aquaristics
The robbery tower snail is a popular aquarium animal in freshwater aquariums that is used to control snail populations.
Taxonomy
The former genus Anentome is now considered a subgenus of Clea . The genus Clea contains the Nominatuntergattung Clea (Clea) the subgenus Clea (Afrocanidia) comprising the African species.
literature
- Rolf AM Brandt: The non-marine aquatic Mollusca of Thailand. Archive for Molluscology, 105, Frankfurt / M. 1974, ISSN 0003-9284 , pp. 1-423.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Clea Helena characteristics on Interaquaristik.de
- ↑ a b Alexandra Behrendt and Chris Lukhaup: Snails for the aquarium. 64 p., Gräfe and Unzer, Munich 2009 ISBN 978-3-8338-1521-8 Excerpt from Google Books
Web links
- Clea helena, formerly known as Anentome helena ( Memento from December 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Profile (engl.)
- Wirbellose.de - Clea helena - predatory snail, freshwater predatory snail
- Ulli Bauer: "Clea helena not a pure snail eater" ; November 10, 2014, on Crustahunter.com