Neritina natalensis

Neritina natalensis
	Neritina natalensis shells
Conservation status
	; Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Neritimorpha; clade Cycloneritimorpha
Superfamily:	Neritoidea
Family:	Neritidae
Subfamily:	Neritininae
Tribe:	Neritinini
Genus:	Neritina
Species:	N. natalensis
Binomial name
	Neritina natalensis; Reeve, L.A., 1845
Synonyms
	Vittina natalensis

Neritina natalensis, common name spotted nerite,[2] is a species of small freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites. It returns to brackish waters to reproduce.

This is a popular aquarium snail, sold because it looks attractive and eats algae in freshwater tanks, but does not multiply under aquarium conditions. It requires a pH above 7.0 to thrive.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the coastal plain of East Africa -- Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania.[1] Its specific name natalensis refers to the region of Natal, South Africa.

Human use

This species is a common choice of algae-eating snail among freshwater aquarists. In the aquarium trade, the striped shell of this species has caused it to be known as the tiger snail, zebra snail, or zebra nerite. (The name zebra nerite is however misleading, because there are several species of nerite that have that common name, including Puperita pupa, a small marine nerite from the tropical western Atlantic.) The stripes in some individuals may display as zigzags, dashes or spots. In an aquarium, the shell of this species grows to about 2.5 cm (one inch) in diameter. This snail prefers an aquarium temperature of 22 to 26 °C.

Neritina Natalensis in an aquarium
A Nerite Snail moving over aquarium glass

References

Appleton, C.; Kristensen, T.K.; Lange, C.N.; Stensgaard, A-S. & Van Damme, D. (2010). "Neritina natalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T14628A4451314. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T14628A4451314.en.
Perissinotto, Renzo; Miranda, Nelson; Raw, Jacqueline; Peer, Nasreen (2014-09-15). "Biodiversity census of Lake St Lucia, iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa): Gastropod molluscs". ZooKeys. 440: 1–43. doi:10.3897/zookeys.440.7803. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 4196252.

External links

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[IUCN-1] Appleton, C.; Kristensen, T.K.; Lange, C.N.; Stensgaard, A-S. & Van Damme, D. (2010). "Neritina natalensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T14628A4451314. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T14628A4451314.en.

[2] Perissinotto, Renzo; Miranda, Nelson; Raw, Jacqueline; Peer, Nasreen (2014-09-15). "Biodiversity census of Lake St Lucia, iSimangaliso Wetland Park (South Africa): Gastropod molluscs". ZooKeys. 440: 1–43. doi:10.3897/zookeys.440.7803. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 4196252.