I have a theory

[Baccus]

I have been watching my notopala snails for a couple of weeks now and I have noticed that a couple of them tend to stay in and around one of their own choosing areas of the tank or tank furnishings, where as the newest snail tends to roam all over the place. The reason for its constant wondering and the others more stationary lives got me to wondering if it could be a male/female thing. So my theory is this, perhaps the ones that barely move from a rough10cm square area are females while the constant wonderer over the entire tank is a male. It actually makes sense to me that if a female has a good food source and safe from predators, then she has no need to be wasting energy roaming all about the place while potentially also being gravid and nourishing her offspring. Where as it makes good evolutionary sense that a male should wonder all about the place, because it makes it more likely for him to come across more females and different females to his own genetic line.

Of course I have no real way of testing or proving this theory and I only have a limited number of snails so it could still be down to a personality thing over a breeding thing. But I just thought I would put the thought out there and see what others think.

[Morgan]

Interesting theory, it sounds logical.

I wouldn't mind finding out some more info about their breeding in general. Does anyone know how often they produce young? How many at a time?

I got some Waterhouse snails about a month ago and I keep peering at the tank hoping to see babies. :)

[Baccus]

I am pretty sure they have a single baby at a time, but no idea how long "gestation" may take. I guess it could come down to water temp and food availability. Low temps I am guessing would slow them down like most fish etc.

I have now noticed the snail that tends to roam all about the place seems to have set up a dedicated route of travel and I can almost set my watch to where he will be or headed at any particular time. Reminds me almost of a male lion or wolf patrolling its territory, checking for intruders.

I have also now seen the tiniest one of the three has secreted itself away in a nifty hollow/ space in the log. I will be keeping a close eye on it in case its a breeding thing (who knows how big they have to be to be mature and breeding) or if its just had enough for a bit and is happy to stay in the log.

I would dearly love to see some babies of these guys start appearing in the tank, then hopefully I can get an idea of how quickly they grow, at least in a tank situation with plenty of food and no predators.

[Morgan]

That's so fascinating, I'll have to watch mine and see if they have a set route as well. A couple of them have been very inactive the last few days, burying themselves in the substrate around the tank, but one is still roaming around everywhere. He covers a lot of ground!

 

[Baccus]

My husband didn't believe me at how quick Bolt the speeding snail could get around until he had actually seen Bolt in one place looked away and then had to hunt to see where Bolt had disappeared to and it wasn't within a 1cm or 2 like you would have expected.

I have watched him speed across the glass and I think its interesting that while racing along he will still be feeding. I had wondered if all the racing about was searching for suitable/ desired foods. Unless he's only tasting as he scrapes his mouth over the glass on his merry way.