# Tanganyikan Snails



## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

The other snail thread we have going right now made me think of an illustration I saw some time ago in the fantastic book "Lake Tanganyika and it's Life", edited by George W. Coulter. It shows some beautiful snails from Lake Tanganyika. I have never seen any of those in the hobby. Has anybody? If not, does anybody know why not? I'd be willing to empty my piggy bank for some of those number 13/14! :drooling:


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## Longstocking (Aug 26, 2003)

I've never seen any for sale either...

I have seen a tang shrimp though... A bit pricey though !

Contact Atlantis.... you might have luck asking them to get some in.


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

im guessing #17 is the Neothuama shell?


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## Dan L (Oct 20, 2003)

Multies said:


> im guessing #17 is the Neothuama shell?


looks like it to me...


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

It is indeed. The names are all at the bottom. If you click on the image you get a slightly larger version that allows me to read them despite advancing age and failing eyesight :wink:

Frank


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I belong to an email list of people who study/collect all types of shells/living animals. Want me to ask?


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Sure, asking is free 

I have a hunch that there might be a reason why these things are not exported. Maybe they get too large, maybe they are hard to feed, or maybe they live in great depth and need the higher pressure. But it sure would be nice to know rather than having to speculate.

As an aside, since I help organize the OCA Extravaganza, I am in the lucky position to once a year meet Ad Konings and other people who visit the lake regularly. That would be an interesting question to ask him. But then maybe he just doesn't like snails, so your group of shell enthusiasts might be the best source of information yet!

Greetings

Frank


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Never mind, I just did ask. I also googled and found a pic of it on a sellers webite (not available) and in a shell collectors collection. Another website says it is not endangered.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I found them on a shell auction site for $19 - $28. This was in Europe. So if you google around, I bet you can find them.


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2009)

Longstocking said:


> I've never seen any for sale either...
> 
> I have seen a tang shrimp though... A bit pricey though !
> 
> Contact Atlantis.... you might have luck asking them to get some in.


I believe I did ask Peter about it a while ago and he said he could always ask if they could harvest a bunch of live ones if enough people asked.

I personally think it would be a great idea to get live ones in the hobby and for us to start raising and breeding them ourselves...imagine your own personal captive bred supply of neothauma shells!

~Ed


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I got an email from a vendor in the UK that this rare species from Lake Tanganyika is perhaps the most sought-after freshwater snail in the world.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

These guys claim to have the real thing for sale.
http://www.ohiexchange.com/armke/list.htm
Not found em here in the UK often advertised but always sold out when I ask.


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## Guest (Feb 1, 2009)

24Tropheus said:


> These guys claim to have the real thing for sale.
> http://www.ohiexchange.com/armke/list.htm
> Not found em here in the UK often advertised but always sold out when I ask.


Armkes is closed now, the business was sold to one of its employees Dave Schumacher www.davesfish.com

And they sell just the shells, not live snails.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Oh the UK vendor I mentioned and the prices I quoted are just for a shell, no animal. I was referred to a professor in the UK who is supposedly the world authority on mollusks in Lake Tanganyika. I have not heard back from her yet, but maybe next week after the weekend I will.


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## cholile (Oct 28, 2007)

interesting. it's possible they're also too sensitive to ship, but that's just speculation which is precisely why it'd be nice to know a, or the, reason they're not available.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The professor replied to my inquiry, I'm just getting her permission to post her reply here. Stay tuned.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Dear DJRansome,

Thanks for your enquiry and for the flattering words. LT molluscs have taken, and continue to take, a great deal of my energy!

Tiphobia is a beautiful snail, but we donâ€™t encounter it while diving as it prefers soft sediment, often very deep water, which is not ideal for lots of the other LT animals that have taken up our research energy to date (e.g. Lavigeria, Paramelania, etc). It is a brooder, bearing live young, and probably eats by sifting sediment for interstitial bacteria, diatoms, or similar. This is simply a guess based on the radula. (No FW snails are carnivores â€" only neogastropods have made that leap and they are all marine). I donâ€™t know how hardy Tiphobia is for an aquarium, but the person to ask is another aquarist, Heinz Buescher in Switzerland who has worked on keeping many snails alive in tanks (I donâ€™t have his contacts handy but perhaps you can find him through your cichlid networks). He has also filmed them extensively (in tank set ups) and I understand he is planning to screen one of his films in the fall at an aquarist convention. My own experience with keeping snails in tanks is that they tend to just hunker down and then eventually die. In the early part of my research career I tried to keep some (Lavigeria) in tanks to potentially do breeding experiments, but it was such a futile endeavor and there were better tools to address the questions at hand (e.g. genetics) that I decided this wasnâ€™t a fruitful line of approach for starters. Its hard to know which ones have very specialist food demands and which donâ€™t.

On acquiring specimens, I donâ€™t know of any easy source. The problem is you need permits to export living wildlife from TZ (as anywhere). If you make contact with a fish dealer they may have that in place already. I might be able to ask around for you next time I go to TZ (though Iâ€™m not sure at the moment when that might be).

Best wishes,
Ellinor

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Dr Ellinor MICHEL
Department of Zoology
The Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
SW7 5BD London UK tel: +44-207-942-5516


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## JCB (Mar 18, 2007)

www.airfish.de

These man are selling the real neothauma shells!
The shells are 1,- euro each

I just ordered another 150 shells for my tank


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