This mollusk is a member of the genus Romacea of the family Ampullariidae, also called Apple snails, and formerly called Pilidae. This “family” includes about 120 species of snails. A characteristic feature of all Romacea is a specific tubular process, the so-called siphon. It has the ability to stretch in length and upwards, which allows the snail, while under water, to absorb atmospheric air and breathe it.
In an elongated form, this organ can exceed the length of its mistress. The natural habitat of the Black Mystery is the reservoirs of Brazil. In nature, during the day, she mostly sits quietly under water, and with the onset of darkness, she begins an active search for food. Sometimes for this occupation she gets out on land.
Description
The color of the Black Mystery mostly corresponds to the name, but there may be specimens with brown, golden or greenish speckles. The size can reach 5 cm, but in stores, individuals up to 2 cm long are mainly sold. The snail itself is very peaceful, and other inhabitants of the aquarium can also coexist with it, it will not bother them. It is only important to make sure when settling your home sea that among these neighbors there are no aquarium fish that will regard the Black Mystery as an addition to the menu.
Reproduction
It should be said that, like all types of snails of the ampoule family, the black mystery snail is heterosexual. Females and males are practically indistinguishable. The sex of producers of the same year of birth can often be determined only by their size. The female is usually slightly larger than the male.
At the time of spawning, snails spawn on the leaves of plants and on the walls of the aquarium near the very surface of the water. The female spawns at night, laying about 300-600 eggs in the form of a bunch. The time of caviar maturation is significantly influenced by the temperature of the water. So at a water temperature of about 25-30 ° C, caviar ripens within 15-20 days.
Newly born snails eat the same food as their parents, naturally only in a smaller volume. The life span of the black mystery snail in aquarium conditions is about 3-5 years.
Habitat
The birthplace of the Black Mystery is Brazil. The Mysteria is often referred to as the Apple Snail and is a member of the Ampullariidae family, which has about 120 species of snails.
Appearance and coloring
The black mystery is small in size, up to 5 cm. The predominant color in the color of the snail is black, but all possible inclusions of other colors can be observed – golden, brown, greenish. The leg of the mystery is black or black-blue. On the leg there are 2 tentacles responsible for the sense of smell. The shell has from 5 to 7 turns, depending on the age of the snail. A distinctive feature of the mystery is the presence of a siphon for breathing the atmosphere.spheral air, which can change in size. The approximate length of the siphon is 8-10 cm. In aquarium conditions, mystery lives up to 3-5 years.
Sexual signs
According to aquarists, with the same diet, females outnumber males. For breeding mysteries, it is better to buy snails of the same age from 4 to 6 pieces or more. Maintenance and feeding. Snails in the content are unpretentious. As a container, you can choose an aquarium of 20 liters or more, and it has been noticed that snails grow faster in small containers, because it is not necessary to crawl a long distance to search for food.
The optimal water parameters are as follows: water acidity pH=6,5-8,0, water hardness from 12 to 18, water temperature 20-30 °C. Mystery, like most snails, is an orderly
in an aquarium, eats, in addition to natural food, algae, fouling, plaque on plants, a film on the water, rotten leaves of plants and food that has not been eaten by fish, which is usually collected at the bottom, dead fish lying at the bottom get into the diet 0,5-1 day.
With a lack of food, the snail can be fed with vegetables. Like all members of the Ampullariidae family, the mystery has the ability to crawl to the surface of the water and breathe fresh air, and sometimes just crawl out of the water in search of food on land, so it is better to cover the aquarium with a lid when it is kept. The apple snail is usually not active during the daytime and usually rests at the bottom of the aquarium, and in the evening it begins to be active in search of food.