PIANO SNAIL (Taia naticoides)

The Piano snail (Taia naticoides) is a peaceful livebearing snail originating from Burma (Inle Lake). It is a species of a freshwater snail with an operculum and a gill, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Viviparidae, the river snails. It is in fact a close relative to the European species of river snails (Viviparus). Like other river snails, it feeds on soft particles like mouldered food tablets, detritus etc.

They are not considered to be good algae eaters. On the other hand, they also do not eat live aquarium plants.

The Piano snail (Taia naticoides) is a peaceful livebearing snail originating from Burma (Inle Lake). It is a species of a freshwater snail with an operculum and a gill, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Viviparidae, the river snails. It is in fact a close relative to the European species of river snails (Viviparus). Like other river snails, it feeds on soft particles like mouldered food tablets, detritus etc. They are not considered to be good algae eaters. On the other hand, they also do not eat live aquarium plants.

As they come from subtropical regions, they are suited to a broad array of temperatures and can be kept between 15 and 28°C. It is a very slow and calm species of snail. Like many other river snails, they are sensitive to bad water conditions. Their aquarium should be kept with the very same attention as in keeping fish.

In these snails, males and females exist. The sexes can be easily distinguished by the broad and circled right antennae of the male. Coloration and shape of the shell are not usable for distinguishing the sexes, as both characters are very variable.

The young ones are about 2-4 mm in height when born. It seems that the females can produce offspring of different sizes. Adult snails may reach about 35 mm. The species likes to bury itself from time to time and thus, you should provide a soft and fine sand substrate covering at least part of the aquarium bottom.