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Family: Viviparidae J.E. Gray, 1847 Genus: Taia Species: Taia naticoides, Theobald 1865
Description: The Taia naticoides shells I have on hand are between 40 mm x 22 mm, 35 mm x 18mm in size. They have 5.5 to 6 whorls and of course there is an operculum. There are mostly 3 brown bands on the basically beige to olive-colored shell, and there are 3 to 5 spiralling lines with tubercles. The sutures between the whorls are clearly visible. The operculum is teardrop-shaped in accordance with the aperture. The excentric nucleus is surrounded by several rings.
Range/Habitat: The genus Taia ranges from Burma to Vietnam, India – South-East Asia, in tropical alternate climate with correspondingly high temperatures. Its habitats are practically identical with those of Water parameters: Unfortunately, the editor does not have any data of the habitats. However, Taia naticoides shells started to show strong corrosion within no time at the following parameters: ph 7 - kh 1 gh 2. After only two weeks the shells were so strongly perforated that one of the older snails actually died. The offspring released at these values, however, did not show any corrosion on their shells, which makes me assume that the original species location has a high pH value and possibly harder water, as the older snails had been taken from the wild. Reproduction: Like all viviparidae, Taia is dioecious and ovoviviparous. In a nutshell: dioecious and ovoviviparous. The freshly released young snails are between 2 and 4 mm in size. However, the smallest offspring with 2 mm were released immediately after introducing the mother snails to my water, thus that could have been a precipitate release. These snails were fully developed, but stayed mostly smaller than those released in the normal rhythm. Under good conditions the female releases a young snail every 10 to 14 days in the aquarium. One of the offspring grew to a size of 7 mm in width within 3 months (water parameters: ph 7 - kh 1 gh 2).
Food: All viviparidae eat detritus and bacterial growth in nature, which they find in the muck, as well as rotting plant parts, algae and presumably plancton. They filter the plancton from the water, the food mass runs down a groove on the right side of the foot, where it can be eaten comfortably. In the aquarium it eats any kind of powdered flake food, algae wafer mix , discus food mix and mosquito larvae as well as cucumber and spinach. Aquarium/Requirements: If taken from the wild, Taia naticoides should not be kept under a pH value of 7.5 – softer water is not a problem, a lower pH is. They can be kept in tanks with a front length of 50 cm or larger, however, the other inhabitants should not be filter feeders or shrimp as they are too strong a competition for food. There were no problems in socializing them with fish that do not nip the tentacles, Melanoides tuberculatus snails or others from that family like Thiara winteri or Tarebia granifera. It is very important to feed powdered food, in the best case several times a day. Bringing healing earth into the tank has proven to have a positive effect, as well as using it as a substrate, mixed with sand. Gravel is not recommendable, but one or two larger pebbles and wood are of advantage. Apt temperatures are between 20 and 28 °C depending on the season. At temperatures above 31 °C the snails become inactive. Caring for these snails is very time-consuming, they are no snails that simply coexist in an aquarium. Before bying them you should make sure that you: - are able to feed them adequately. - do not have any food competitiors in the respective tank. - are willing to set up a dedicated tank extra for them should the necessity arise.
A beautiful snail that needs to be treated in the right way.
Web links:
ITIS Report [ Taxonomy ] Aquariumarticles.com [ General information ] University of Florida Malacology [ Map, species locations ]
This page was actualized on December 31, 2007 Author: Alexandra Behrendt Translator: Ulrike Bauer
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Bilder/Text/Fotografien sowie Inhalte in Wort/ Text & Bild unterliegen dem © von Alexandra Behrendt Dezember 2004 - 2010 |
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Pictures/texts/photos as well as word, text and pictorial content underlie the copyright of Alexandra Behrendt, December 2004 – 2010.Please note: Any and all photos and pictures are copyrighted!If you are interested in using pictures or photos on private web sites please send me an email. Tax no. 49108/30501 |
