3 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Peaceful; can nibble soft plants.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
Peaceful; can nibble soft plants.
Algae, vegetables and fish food.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Hermaphrodite: each snail has both sexes, and self-fertilisation is possible, so there are no males or females to tell apart.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-laying hermaphrodite · Easy
Lays jelly egg masses on plants and aquarium glass; young hatch after about 2 weeks (some reports up to 2 months). Self-fertilisation is possible but gives few hatchlings.
Any two.
Any tank.
Warm water and food.
Egg masses of about 12-49 eggs (up to 60 reported); hatch after 14-16 days, or 31-65 days in one old aquarium study.
Young snails graze.
The largest European ramshorn snail. It has haemoglobin in its blood, so it copes with oxygen-poor water; it mainly eats algae and detritus and turns to living plants only when other food runs short; breeds readily.
Carl Linnaeus described this snail in 1758. It is the largest ramshorn snail in Europe, and red and other colour forms are widely kept in aquariums.
First described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
17 facts checked with sources
Legacy has no family; recorded as sourced.
MolluscaBase (via WoRMS): Planorbarius corneus (Linnaeus, 1758), AphiaID 819958Shell diameter, typically 35 mm, range 22-40 mm. Legacy 3 cm is at the small end.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)No range found. An unheated (temperate) species; breeds above 15 °C. Legacy 15-26 °C not checked.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)No pH figures; needs calcium-rich water.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Qualitative only.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Source says no minimum aquarium size is needed; no litre figure.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Hermaphrodite that can self-fertilise, so one snail can breed; no group size given.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Up to 3 years (AnimalBase text on Wikipedia); old captive reports of up to 6 years (Oldham 1929-30). Legacy 1-2 years is short.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Clings to vegetation in shallow water; no zone stated.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Legacy has no range. Wikipedia here cites the IUCN Red List assessment (Seddon & Van Damme 2011).
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Legacy "not visibly different" implies separate sexes; it is a hermaphroditic pulmonate.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Hatch time: 14-16 days (AnimalBase text) vs first hatching after 31-65 days in Oldham's 1930 aquarium study.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)Legacy 10-50 eggs agrees.
Wikipedia: Planorbarius corneus (cites IUCN 2011, Oldham 1930, Berrie 1963, AnimalBase)No legal source checked. Native European species; not on the EU Union list (checked against the 2025 list).
Wikipedia: List of invasive alien species of Union concern (cites Reg. (EU) 2025/1422)