Bumblebee Snail (Engina mendicaria) Care Guide
Engina mendicaria is a small carnivorous marine gastropod with black-and-yellow banding, kept in reef tanks as a sand-bed scavenger of meaty detritus.
Overview
Engina mendicaria is a small marine gastropod, described by Linnaeus in 1758, that is widely sold in the aquarium trade as the "bumble bee snail". Its shell carries a white or yellowish background crossed by a few transverse black bands, a pattern resembling a wasp or bee. Unlike most reef cleanup snails, which graze algae, this species is carnivorous and scavenges meaty material from the sand bed and live rock.
Taxonomy
- Family: Buccinidae (WoRMS places the species in Pisaniidae)
- Genus: Engina
- Scientific name: Engina mendicaria
- Authority: Linnaeus, 1758
- Common synonyms: Voluta mendicaria, Columbella mendicaria, Pusiostoma mendicaria
Habitat
The species occurs across the tropical Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean off Aldabra, Chagos, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique and Tanzania, and extends to Australia. It lives on rocky shores and sand beds and is mainly nocturnal.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 40 L
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Carbonate hardness (dKH): 8-12
- Specific gravity: 1.024-1.026
- Adult shell size: 10-20 mm
- Lifespan: 1-2 years
Diet
Engina mendicaria is a carnivorous scavenger. In the aquarium it forages on the sand bed and live rock for leftover meaty foods and detritus, and it is often valued for preying on small pest snails. It does not graze film algae the way herbivorous reef snails do.
Compatibility
It is a peaceful, reef-safe invertebrate suited to mixed reef communities. Like other reef snails it is sensitive to copper-based medications and to elevated nitrate, and it should be acclimated slowly to avoid shock from rapid changes in temperature or salinity. Predatory fish such as triggerfish and pufferfish will eat it and should be avoided.
Breeding
Reproduction involves a planktonic larval stage, which makes captive breeding impractical for home aquarists.