# Assassin Snails



## apistomaster

Assassin Snail is a popular name given to SE Asian aquatic snail beginning to show up in imports.
*Antentome helena* is the scientific name.
The snail has a wide range but is not common to any particular area. It's primary food is other snails although it will eat other foods except algae. They are an egg laying species and lay a few eggs per spawn.
Not much more than this is known about them except they are selling for about $7.00 each.
Reference: Aqualog News No. 78, 2007.


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## milalic

apistomaster said:


> Assassin Snail is a popular name given to SE Asian aquatic snail beginning to show up in imports.
> *Antentome helena* is the scientific name.
> The snail has a wide range but is not common to any particular area. It's primary food is other snails although it will eat other foods except algae. They are an egg laying species and lay a few eggs per spawn.
> Not much more than this is known about them except they are selling for about $7.00 each.
> Reference: Aqualog News No. 78, 2007.


So pretty much they just kill other snails and eat. Are the eggs hard like the nerites one?


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## rich_one

will they kill shrimp, or do they just eat snails?


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## customdrumfinishes

sounds like a great solution to getting rid of the pond snails in a tank!


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## customdrumfinishes

heres the aquarium wiki i saw on them

http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Anentome_helena


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## rich_one

anyone know where these can be had, and if they have been known to eat smaller shrimp, like cherries?


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## Tedb

Someone is selling them on aquabid but you have to have them shipped from overseas. From what I have read they will not harm shrimp, fish, ect., only snails. Also from what I have read they are going to be more of a population control than an exterminator. They eat a snail, digest for a few days, eat a snail, digest for a week, ect. I thought about getting some as my trapping and smashing duties are getting out of hand.


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## customdrumfinishes

still sounds like a good snail to have! i wonder if they multiply like ramshorns.

what happens when they see another assasian snail?
do they eat each other? lol


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## Bjar1

> So pretty much they just kill other snails and eat. Are the eggs hard like the nerites one?


NO they are clear you can see what happening insíde them.They look soft.


> will they kill shrimp, or do they just eat snails?


Never heard it mentioned ,but in a crowded thank ,if they are very hungry ,maybe


> Also from what I have read they are going to be more of a population control than an exterminator. They eat a snail, digest for a few days, eat a snail, digest for a week, ect. I thought about getting some as my trapping and smashing duties are getting out of hand.


Yes ,they don´t eat that may ,but if you put them in new thanks before you get snail problems .
or remove all snails you can find in a established tank .I think can finish of the last ones.


> still sounds like a good snail to have! i wonder if they multiply like ramshorns.
> what happens when they see another assasian snail?
> do they eat each other? lol


They reproduce slowly one baby from each eggcase so they are very much slower rhan ramshornsnails
They are not canibalistic and mostly spends the day burried the sand.It is quite interesting to watch
the feed....:heh:


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## michu

I've only had mine a few weeks, but love them. I've read they don't come out during the day, but mine are always out eating the detritus from my sand. I wasn't infested with a ton of snails... just a few adults and the babies that had appeared.. prior to getting the AS. They are now gone... or gone into hiding. Regardless, I can't see them anymore, but do see the AS that seem to be thriving.


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## niko

Assasins switch to eating anything they find if they can't get to other snails or dead fish. You can also feed them a piece of raw salmon.

They would not touch a fish that is laying on the bottom but still breathing. They do not attack each other. They do bury and you may think you have taken all of them out of the tank but a few will still be in it.

--Nikolay


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## surpera1

i like my pond snails - i have 2 pictis catfish and 2 plecos in there - between the 4 of them they keep the numbers reasonable - i think the plecos eat the eggs when they find them - and the cats too - those cats - i think they will eat larger ones - funny - i always have some snails - but nowhere near the numbers i suspect would happen - interesting


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## catfishbi

Yes they do hunt Shrimps, I see them eating my CRS before I sold them.



rich_one said:


> will they kill shrimp, or do they just eat snails?


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## jellyfish6

I have never seen mine attacking fish or shrimp, but i do have enough MTS to keep them in food. They move reasonably fast but not fast enough to catch a shrimp. I would suggest that if you see one eating a shrimp - the shrimp was already dead!


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## Lugh

They don't hunt shrimp, chances are if you see them feeding on one, it was already dead.

Even if they wanted to hunt shrimp, the shrimp are FAR too fast for them. Here's a good way to put it in perspective. Picture yourself in a large, empty parking lot. Now picture a 90-year old woman with a walker trying to chase you down and kill you with a knife. Needless to say, you'd be able to outrun her by walking away slowly, or, if you're adventurous, stepping aside right before she tries to stab you in slow motion.

Your shrimp will be fine with the assassins, but watch out for those old ladies.


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## James He

Lugh said:


> They don't hunt shrimp, chances are if you see them feeding on one, it was already dead.
> 
> Even if they wanted to hunt shrimp, the shrimp are FAR too fast for them. Here's a good way to put it in perspective. Picture yourself in a large, empty parking lot. Now picture a 90-year old woman with a walker trying to chase you down and kill you with a knife. Needless to say, you'd be able to outrun her by walking away slowly, or, if you're adventurous, stepping aside right before she tries to stab you in slow motion.
> 
> Your shrimp will be fine with the assassins, but watch out for those old ladies.


What I found is interesting that my shrimp actually pick up algae on the snail's body. they are not afraid of snail at all.

James


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## jjm619

These snails are really effective. I had a huge snail infestation a few months ago, went and bought two of these, now I have empty snail shells all over the place. I barely see a snail that's bigger than a pea. I kind of wish I only bought one now, I didn't want them hunted off, just have their population under control ha.

20 gallon tank


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## tex627

they will kill each other when theres no food available. I work at a fish store and we hold about 30-50 assassins in a 20 gallon tank with gold tetras. we would never be able to get any food to the snails because of how aggressive the fish are at eating. we're always busy with other things so we dont have time to pick out snails from other tanks for them to eat. A group of assassins sort of gang up on one assassin and then about 10 minutes later there would be a dead snail.


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## Chrom0zone

I second that they will not kill shrimp. They will hunt down any other snail in the tank, following the slime trail and they will gang up. They have a barb that they will use to snare the prey.

They will eat any other food or dead shrimp/fishes they can find, then go hide under the soil until they are hungry again.


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## Tonya420

rich_one said:


> will they kill shrimp, or do they just eat snails?


They don't kill shrimp but they will eat the ones that die. They also like veggie wafers if they run out of snails.


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## jetajockey

I've never caught my group of assassins killing shrimp. I rarely ever see them, there's around a dozen in a 40b. I know they are there, though, a testament is the empty snail shells piling up on the substrate.


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