Pond Snail (Lymnaea stagnalis) Species Profile & Care Guide
Pond Snails are the most well-known species of freshwater snails. They are recognised as both useful and a pest. Pond snails are unlikely to consume plants in the aquarium.
These Snails are peaceful and extraordinarily hardy and require very little to no care. They can survive and thrive in conditions that other species can not.
Pond Snails are the largest pond snail in Britain and are fitting for your aquarium or pond. They make an excellent clean up crew eating any leftover food and algae.
Their shells are tall and slender and usually a shiny olive-brown colour. They are slightly pointed on top and spiral to the right. The wall of the shell is soft and translucent. There are scattered marks on the outsides with lines indicating the span of growth. The shell surface is also dented at some points. The Pond Snails have a big greyish-brown head, and their tentacles are thick and triangular-shaped. This snail species do not have an operculum.
| Quick Facts | |
| Scientific Name | Lymnaea stagnalis |
| Other Names | Great Pond Snail |
| Family | Lymnaeidae |
| Genus | Lymnaea |
| Origins | Most Continents |
| Temperament | Peaceful |
| Aquarium Level | All Levels |
| Difficulty | Beginner - Intermediate |
| Shoaling | No |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Reproduction | Egg-Layer |
| Lifespan | up to 3 years |
| Water Conditions | |
| Water Type | Freshwater |
| Temperature | 32 - 90 ℉ (0 - 32.2 ℃) |
| PH | 6.0 - 9.0 |
| GH | 4 - 8 |
| KH | 2 - 8 |
| TDS | 150 - 250 |
Natural Habitat of the Pond Snail
Pond Snails are endemic to Europe, but they can also be found in Northern Asia, Northern America, New Zealand and Tasmania a distribution which is likely to have been affected due to the installation of this species to garden ponds.
These Snails are widespread and common in England but is scarce in Wales and Scotland.
You can find these Snails in still or slow-moving lakes, ponds, marshes, and ditches with a preference of stagnant water where there is plenty of aquatic vegetation.
Other Snails of interest
Diet
It is effortless to feed Pond Snails in an aquarium. They will eat absolutely everything you give them. These snails will consume both plant and animal matter in their diet. They fulfil a crucial role in the consumption and decomposition of aquatic plants, both living and dead as well as detritus and algae.
Sexing the Pond Snail
Unfortunately, it is impossible to differentiate the genders of Pond Snails as they are hermaphrodites possessing both female and male reproductive organs, and according to current research, they do not have a consistently favoured gender role. Gender choice may even change within an individual during a mating session.
Breeding the Pond Snail
Pond snail is a hermaphrodite species that can self- and cross-fertilise with a preference for outcrossing.
Pond Snails reach sexual maturity from around two to three months of age.
These Snails can mate in the female and male role. During mating behaviour, one snail performs as the male and the other as the female. When the snail plays the male part, it will climb on the shell of the prospective female then passes over the surface in a counter-clockwise direction until he reaches the area of the female gonophore. The whole mating routine can last for several hours.
The Pond Snail can provide and obtain sperm relatively frequently, and collected sperm can be stored and used for around three months.
Egg quantities are produced at a relatively high rate. The snails lay eggs in cocoons below the waterline.
During egg-laying, a body of matter containing 50 to 100 eggs is enclosed in a gelatinous mass and laid upon weeds or objects in the aquarium. Inside the eggs are embryos, these embryos transform by approximately day five post-oviposition from which fully developed baby snails looking like miniature adults emerge after about ten days.
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