Yoda snail (Lymnaea stagnalis); such a beautiful snail

The Yoda snail (Lymnaea stagnalis), also known as the common pond snail or stray snail, is a well-known pond snail. However, it can also be kept in a freshwater aquarium. It is then necessary to feed them a little. The Yoda snail owes its name to the shape of its antennae, which look a lot like Yoda’s ears from the Star Wars series.

The Yoda snail can grow up to 6 cm. They have a yellow/brown colour. When stressed, they crawl back into their house and let themselves fall to the bottom of the water. They like to sit in stagnant or gently flowing water with lots of plants.

They are mainly herbivores and like to eat old rotting pieces of plants and algae. However, they also like to have worms and insect larvae. They are really the cleaners of the aquarium tank. We often give them snailstixx and calcium. This is very good for them.

The Yoda snail is a water lung snail. This means that this snail has a lung; one. The snail uses this lung to breathe on the surface. In addition, they can absorb oxygen through the skin.

The Yoda snail is a hermaphrodite. This means that the snail has 2 sexes. When reproducing, the snail does need another snail, but they can both take on the different role of male or female. This offers many possibilities in terms of reproduction. They often lay the eggs under leaves in an oxygen-rich environment in a kind of gelatin cylinders. After about 10-14 days, the eggs hatch. Preferably in an environment of 22 degrees Celsius with a pH of 6-7.5. Another blog describes day by day how the eggs develop.

We have our Yoda snails with our shrimp, which we breed. Another blog will be about this to be able to present this clearly. We think they are beautiful snails that really do not get enough credit. Definitely worth another blog!