| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| cab |
Ramshorn Snail?Can anyone tell me if what I just did today was really stupid?Saw a funny looking snail in 'Hobsons Conduit'. Thats a wierd historic thing in Cambridge, I'll not bore you by saying what its there for, but suffice to say that through much of summer theres water running through it, but its been turned off for a few days. I picked this snail up to look at it, about an inch across, but the shell was more like a fossil ammonite in that it didn't go to a point, it just coilled in on itself. Didn't know what it was, but it was clearly an aquatic snail, so I went back to work from my lunchtime wander and showed it to some people. Worked out that it was a rams horn snail, someone said its rare, so I gave it to a colleague with a good sized pond for it to go into. It would've died left where it was. I can't decide from the searches I've just done whether this kind of snail is actually really rather endangered or not. Does anyone know anything about these creatures, where they live, who to talk to about whether they're rare or not, etc.? |
| sally_in_wales |
Where's your closest countryside conservation council people, or failing that the nearest museum entomolgy dept, they normally hold current lists on what is rare in your area. I don't think thay are particularly rare round here, but different regions have different populartions, so it may well be in your area. |
| oddballdave |
http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/pondexplorer/gallery/ramshorn.html
Depends upon local fish stocks, number of ducks in the area but not rare. I have them in my fish pond at home. Fish pond on the allotment has trumpet snails. The aquarium had apple snails in it, but the water round here is really too hard for them to thrive. HTH Dave |
| dpack |
they breed just about fast enough to outpace red pirana but african tiger fish eat them faster than they can breed
they like warmish ,mid o2 sat ,and light for algae / weeds might be native for a long time ? tiger fish eat everything 
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| hedgehogpie |
That is really bizzare Cab, we found exactly the snail you describe by a small muddy pond in our local woods two days ago. Only this specimen appeared to be deceased. The first thing my daughter said when she saw it was 'ammonite'. Spooky......
As you say, obviously an aquatic snail & we assumed from visible damage to the mouth of the shell that it'd been got at by something preditory (I presumed bird). It's not a type of pond snail I'd ever seen before either, but as we couldn't see any others there wasn't much to deduce at the time. But you've got me mighty curious about it now! |