AQUARIUM M ANAGEMENT 19 



The African or Paper-shelled Snail is very prettily marked with 

 brown spots on a horn-colored background, and is an extremely rapid 

 breeder, but is of short life. 



Ramshorn Snails in both the European and native varieties are 

 excellent aquarium scavengers. 



The European Red Ramshorn or Coral Snail (Planorbis comeus, 

 var. ruber) is a comparatively recent introduction and is unique on ac- 

 count of the bright red coral color of the body. It is an active worker, 

 but is often a victim of larger goldfishes, who find it to be a choice morsel 

 of food. 



The Australian Red Snail (Bulinus australianus), is a still later 

 introduction, and a good one. It is an attractive shade of orange red. 

 Fairly hardy, a rapid breeder and a good worker. 



The Pond Snail is extremely common in the Eastern and Middle 

 States. It may be identified by the left-hand turn of the dark-colored 

 shell. It is both the most active and the hardiest of all snails in the 

 aquarium, and is an intrepid scavenger. It breeds at an early age and 

 the young have sufficiently hard shells that goldfishes do not molest them. 



The foregoing snails will usually survive winter in outdoor pools. 



No kind of snails can be kept in the company of carnivorous fishes, 

 such for instance as Sunfish (except Chsetodons) and many of the tropi- 

 cals—Paradise Fish, Chanchitos and the like. 



Do not forget that snails can starve in a constantly spick-and-span 

 aquarium. If kept in such an aquatic parlor they should be occasionally 

 removed and given a meal such as is indicated in a later paragraph on 

 "Snail Breeding." 



Limpets are very flat, translucent snails about one-eighth inch in 

 diameter, the shell extending completely over the body. These are both 

 harmless and useless. They are occasionally found in the aquarium. 



The Frog Tadpole has been used by many as an aquarium scavenger, 

 but its value is of considerable doubt. They dash about the aquarium in 

 an aimless manner, keeping the water stirred up and the natural sediment 

 agitated. Furthermore, they soon learn to eat fish food, and, after that 

 step in education, they are no longer scavengers. 



Another scavenger is the freshwater mussel. The chief value of the 

 mussel is to keep down the vegetable growth which causes aquarium 

 water to turn green. Mussels are equipped with a sort of siphon arrange- 

 ment, by which they suck in water in one opening and eject it from an- 

 other. In the few moments which they hold the water they extract from 

 it the floating vegetable organisms. Two or three mussels can keep a 

 ten-gallon aquarium free of green water. Care should be taken to occa- 



