Breeding the White-Spotted Rabbit Snail (Tylomelania kruimeli)
Tylomelania kruimeli is a Sulawesi rabbit snail with white-spotted brown body. As a dioecious livebearer it produces a single large juvenile at a time and is a slow grower and slow breeder.
Overview
Tylomelania kruimeli is a Sulawesi rabbit snail marked by striking white spots on a brown body. It belongs to the family Pachychilidae and shares the genus trait of being dioecious. It is both a slow grower and a slow breeder, adapted to the warm, hard, alkaline waters of Sulawesi.
Its measured growth and reproduction mean a breeding effort spans many months. As a Sulawesi endemic, propagating it in the aquarium helps relieve collection pressure on wild stocks.
Sexing
External sexing is not reliable, and one snail cannot reproduce alone. Keeping a group is the practical way to secure both sexes; the appearance of young confirms a viable pair.
Conditioning
Condition adults with steady chemistry and continuous grazing on algae, biofilm and leaf litter. Keep ammonia and nitrite at zero and nitrate low, and avoid soft water that pits the shell of this slow-growing species.
- Temperature: 26-30 °C (79-86 °F)
- pH: 7.5-8.5 (alkaline; avoid soft water)
- GH: 6-14 °dGH
- KH: 4-10 °dKH
- Minimum tank volume: 60 L
Breeding Setup
No dedicated spawning tank is needed. A stable Sulawesi-style display with fine substrate, hiding spots and dim lighting works well. The reproductive driver is hard, warm, alkaline, oxygen-rich water of high quality.
Reproduction & Young
Like all Tylomelania, this species is an ovoviviparous livebearer: the uterine brood pouch releases a single fully formed juvenile at a time rather than eggs. Newly born juveniles of some genus members reach nearly 2 cm, among the largest of any viviparous gastropod, and feed independently once free of the capsule.
Common Challenges
The slow growth compounds an already low birth rate, so progress is gradual. Soft or unstable water damages the shell and suspends reproduction. Avoid keeping with loaches, pufferfish or assassin snails.