Assassin Snail (Clea helena)

Remarks: Assassin snails get their name from the fact that their diet mostly consists of other snails. Pest snails such as bladder and ramshorn snails are extremely common in aquaria, and Assassin Snails do extremely well at keeping their population to a minimum. They feed on other snails in a rather interesting way. They will stay buried in the substrate with a tube-like structure called a proboscis being the only thing sticking out. This proboscis contains a harpoon that the assassin snail will use to poison and paralyze its prey in an ambush attack. Having such a strong weapon for such a tiny snail, this species is capable of taking down snails much larger than itself and thus should not be kept with any other species of snail. Assassin snails will also go after shrimp such as cherry shrimp so those should be avoided as tank mates as well. They will not attack healthy fish so they can be kept safely with any species that will not attempt to eat the snail.   This species is rather easy to breed as long as one has both males and females. After mating, the female will lay small yellow eggs on surfaces that will eventually hatch into tiny assassin snails.