Periwinkle Snails?

[tmh0921]

Months ago I collected some Periwinkle Snails from one of our barrier islands. I had done research that indicated these guys could live in saltwater, brackish, or freshwater. I quarantined them for 4 months, then tried introducing them to my freshwater tank. They clamp shut in freshwater and won't come out, when I put them back in saltwater they come out to forage. Can they be aclimated to freshwater? They live in tidal zones, brackish marshes, and freshwater rivers here in our barrier islands.

If not, they can stay in their saltwater tank until I can return them to where I collected them from.

 

[Donya]

What species are these snails? The few Periwinkle species I'm familiar with like Littorina littorea (invasive in my area) tolerate into the brackish region and can handle massive salinity swings due to rain in shallow pools along the coast but do not range into completely freshwater habitats.

At any rate, even if you think an aquatic animal can tolerate both saltwater and freshwater long-term, you should NEVER dunk it straight from salt into fresh or visa versa. If you don't know the extent of its adaptability, you run the risk of killing it even if it would tolerate a more gradual shift.

until I can return them to where I collected them from.

No!!! Not unless your tanks are 100% from the area of collection in the strict sense - livestock, substrate, any sort of decoration, no wet equipment contact with non-native stuff, and so on. You do not want to risk introducing something to where it doesn't belong by putting it back with microscopic hitchhikers. If you can't keep the snails, give them to another hobbyist who is set up to care for them or take them to a pet store.

 

[tmh0921]

It is the Littorina littorea, and they are invasive here as well.... Ok, so I guess their little saltwater tank will become their permanent home, I don't mind keeping them but if this is to be their permanent residence I'll want to update it for long term occupancy.....make it more like their wild habitat. Thanks for the input!

 

[tmh0921]

These little guys are quite interesting! They spend a good bit of time bunched up together just above the water line. They go foraging a few times a day both above and below the water line, I feed them seaweed and algae wafers. I have a conch shell (empty from their native collection site) in with them and when I clean the tank I have to move it - they are often in the conch shell hanging out. There are some other species that live in the same zone we collected these guys from (crabs, anemone, etc.) maybe I'll collect some of these and set up a tank completely from their collection site. This will be fun. Thanks again!