Malaysian trumpet snail
Mostly hidden in the substrate.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
- Giant gourami eats animals up to about 10 cm. Malaysian trumpet snail only grows to 2.5 cm.
- Oscar eats animals up to about 12 cm. Malaysian trumpet snail only grows to 2.5 cm.
- Jack Dempsey eats animals up to about 8 cm. Malaysian trumpet snail only grows to 2.5 cm.
Care and water
Behavior
Mostly hidden in the substrate.
Food
Leftovers, detritus.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Male or female
Separate sexes, but males are rare or absent in most populations, which reproduce by parthenogenesis (clonal females).
Health
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Breeding
Livebearer · Easy
Live-bearing: eggs are brooded in a pouch and young are born crawling; mostly parthenogenetic, so numbers rise fast.
Buy 5-10. Females give birth to live young.
A 20 L tank with sandy substrate. Any normal water.
They breed all the time with warm temperatures.
A female's brood pouch holds 1-64 embryos (broods of over 70 reported); about 365 young per year. Newborns are about 1.2-2.2 mm.
Young eat algae and soft foods.
- Feeding too much
- Using as a pest control only
- Keeping with loaches
Where it lives in the wild
The story of the malaysian trumpet snail
Burrows into the substrate by day and grazes at night. It spread around the tropics mainly through the aquarium plant trade, often arriving as a hitchhiker.
Danish naturalist Otto Friedrich Müller described this snail in 1774, originally in the genus Nerita. Carried around the world with aquarium plants and fish, it now lives on every inhabited continent. In tanks it burrows through the substrate by day, helping to stir the sand.
First described by Otto F. Müller in 1774.
- It gives birth to live young.
- Many populations are all female.
- It burrows in sand.
Sources
12 facts checked with sources
- Scientific name
Author (Müller, 1774). The spelling 'tuberculatus' is still common (e.g. Texas Invasive Species Institute) but is incorrect because Melanoides is feminine (Albrecht et al. 2018, via USFWS). Trade name 'Malaysian trumpet snail'; other common name 'red-rimmed melania'. Freshwater snail (gastropod), not a fish.
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) - Familycorrected
New value (legacy had none).
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) · Texas Invasive Species Institute (Texas State University System): Melanoides tuberculatus - Size
Shell length. Mean adult 2-4 cm depending on morph (CABI via USFWS); average 2.0-2.7 cm (Glöer 2002 via Wikipedia). Exceptional wild shells to 7-8 cm in Texas. Legacy 2.5 cm is a fair typical adult.
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) · Wikipedia: Red-rimmed melania (cites Appleton, Forbes & Demetriades 2009 and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission 2005) - Temperature
Legacy range sits inside the tolerated 17-32.5 °C (Mitchell & Brandt 2005 via USFWS). 13 °C killed all test snails within 12 days.
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) · Texas Invasive Species Institute (Texas State University System): Melanoides tuberculatus - Group size
Judgment field: because most populations reproduce without males, a single snail can start a colony. No source states a minimum group as such.
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) - Lifespancorrected
Fofonoff et al. 2018 and CABI 2023, both via USFWS. Legacy 1-2 is a little short.
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) - Swimming level
Burrows in the substrate by day, active mostly at night.
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) · FWGNA (Freshwater Gastropods of North America project, R.T. Dillon): Melanoides tuberculata - Where it livescorrected
New value. Introduced and invasive across the tropics and in the USA (Texas, Florida and others).
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) · FWGNA (Freshwater Gastropods of North America project, R.T. Dillon): Melanoides tuberculata - Male or female
Some wild populations have 20-33% males, so 'rare' is a generalisation.
FWGNA (Freshwater Gastropods of North America project, R.T. Dillon): Melanoides tuberculata · US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) - Breeding
Maturity in as little as 100 days to six months (FWGNA).
US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) · FWGNA (Freshwater Gastropods of North America project, R.T. Dillon): Melanoides tuberculata - Eggs and youngcorrected
Brood pouch counts from Appleton, Forbes & Demetriades 2009 and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission 2005 (via Wikipedia; primary not fetched). Young are released gradually, not as one litter, so 'gives birth to 10-50' is misleading.
Wikipedia: Red-rimmed melania (cites Appleton, Forbes & Demetriades 2009 and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission 2005) · US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI) - Story
The 'keeps sand aerated' benefit is widely repeated in the hobby but was not found in these sources.
FWGNA (Freshwater Gastropods of North America project, R.T. Dillon): Melanoides tuberculata · US Fish & Wildlife Service: Ecological Risk Screening Summary, Red-rim Melania (Jan 2025; government, quotes peer-reviewed papers and CABI)