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cowrie snails mating (i think!)


wasp

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looking in the tank last night & noticed the two cowrie snails next to each other. There was a tube type thing from one to the other, and the snails moved around a little but stayed together i'm assuming they were mating.

Here is a pic although by the time I took this they were not in the origional position, the tube thing seemed to be gone but they stayed moving around hard up together. Sorry about pic quality, taken at night with a flash.

I'm told that snails are hermaphrodites and each inseminates the other.

cowrie.jpg

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Dogmatix, I think they are Ring Cowrie, Cypraea annulus. I got 10 of them from TM in Chch, about 1/2 were either DOA or died within the first week or two, then the rest have been fine have had them more than a year.

TheConch you are exactly right, I had a look this morning where they were, and there was some slimy mucousy stuff there with little white dots in it, but it was waving around in the current obviously going to come off. If I'd had more time I would have syphoned it & hatched them in a seperate container.

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Ah, that would be why there have never been any young ones. Pity.

Coelacanth, David, if I ever saw eggs again, what would you think to me putting them in a small tank with no pump or skimmer, just a heater. Would they survive the free swimming stage?

TM, long time no see! :lol:

Yes I remember now you selling them under that name, and yes you are right, that is probably what they are.

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I doubt it would be possible to rear them in a home aquarium. For a start they don't just hang around in the water waiting to change into cowrie adults, they have to feed and I'm sure you can appreciate how small the food would need to be to feed planktonic organisms. There would no doubt also be neccessary variables in terms of space, current, etc.

But by all means give it a go. If you're getting eggs then it seems silly to not even try to rear them.

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