King Koopa nerite

Neritina juttingae

Also known as Neritona juttingae, King Koopa nerite snail

FreshwaterBrackishSnail

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–82°F (22–28°C)
pH: 7.0–8.2
Adult size: 1 in (2.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 5 gal (20 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Common
Origin: Musi River basin, Sumatra, Indonesia
Family: Neritidae

Overview

A hard-shelled algae eater that stays on the hardscape and glass and will not touch healthy plants. One or two suit a 20 liter tank; more than that and they run out of algae and starve slowly. Supplement with algae wafers once the visible growth is gone. It cannot breed in fresh water, so the population never gets away from you. Keep the water hard enough to protect the shell.

In the wild

Neritina juttingae comes from the Musi River basin in Sumatra, in fresh lowland water close enough to the coast that its larvae can reach brackish conditions. Keep it at 22 to 28 degrees Celsius and pH 7.0 to 8.2. Soft acidic water erodes nerite shells, which is the usual cause of early loss.

Good to know

Neritina juttingae reaches about 2.5 centimeters and carries heavy spiral ridging that gives it a far more sculptural shell than the common zebra nerite. Females lay small white egg capsules on hardscape in fresh water, but the larvae need salt water to develop, so nothing ever hatches into the tank.