my swimming snail

strangest thing i've ever seen. he was one of those hitchhikers that stows away
on plants you get at the LFS. he kinda hung around and hasn't multiplied
(strangely enough). he's about the size of a nickel now (slightly less than 2
cm.) with a shell that spirals around upon itself, not coiled to one side or the
other. he'll make his way to the top of the tank then just... let go. he'll free
float for a while in mid water then swims (actually i'm sure he just drifts)
toward something he can grab onto and then goes again. occasionally he gets real
ambitious and climbs up the side, lets go, floats for a minute or to, then drops
like a rock to the bottom, races to the other side of the tank and does it all
over again.

anybody else have one of these?

"Tedd Jacobs" wrote in message
...
strangest thing i've ever seen. he was one of those hitchhikers that
stows away
on plants you get at the LFS. he kinda hung around and hasn't
multiplied
(strangely enough). he's about the size of a nickel now (slightly less
than 2
cm.) with a shell that spirals around upon itself, not coiled to one
side or the
other. he'll make his way to the top of the tank then just... let go.
he'll free
float for a while in mid water then swims (actually i'm sure he just
drifts)
toward something he can grab onto and then goes again. occasionally he
gets real
ambitious and climbs up the side, lets go, floats for a minute or to,
then drops
like a rock to the bottom, races to the other side of the tank and does
it all
over again.

anybody else have one of these?

I think that's the strategy used by snails which can control their
buoyancy to get a new food sources. Much easier to float up and drop on
new leaves, than to climb up the plant. Also if the effort does not
produce good results, they can float a little longer, and in a natural
waterway, migrate to where there is more food or less competition. It's
interesting to watch, the Evil Kenevil of the aquarium world ;~)

NetMax