can anyone ID this snail ? Please

[ladyblues1965]

Hey all , I know there is someone who can ID this snail. I dont know where they came from they just showed up. I have two of them and have had them for several months. They have not bred or reproduced in any way. They have a strange looking face like an alien, with no real antenea. just things that look like ears. They are grey with white specks on their body and the shell is grey with a reddish brown stripe at the shoulder of the shell. These are not any pond snail that I have seen but are slightly larger than the largest pond snails I have had in my tanks.
Hope you can help.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/ladyblues1965/Image307.jpg

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/ladyblues1965/Image301.jpg

[msjinkzd]

I have those too, it may be my fault you have them. I can't remember their scientific name, but they are like pond snails. I call them donkey ears, but they may be a physea.

[pik01]

I may be reading this article on Fresh Water Snails (http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater2.html) incorrectly but I think Donkey Ears here is a true pond snail while the snail everyone usually calls a pond snail is a pouch snail. I remember someone posting that one snail has dextral (right-handed) coiling and the other has sinestral (left-handed) coiling. Darned if I can remember which is which, though >.<

[ladyblues1965]

Cool Rach now I know where I got them LOL Do they breed like pond snails? I havent seen another one in the tank other than the two I have . I think they are cute Well as long as I dont get overrun with em. I would like to know what they are tho.
the pond snails I have in my tanks and pond have speckled shells and brown bodies. I am in the process of try to eliminate them from my tanks by the freezing method
I will look up ppouch snails and see if they look like mine

[msjinkzd]

They don't seem to reproduce nearly as readily as what are commonly called pond snails. I like them. They get bigger and are cute.

[ladyblues1965]

I like em too. I looked up pouch snails and yes those are the pond snails I have in my pond and tanks. I have almost got them all out of the tanks. they are fine in the pond but I dont like so many in my tanks. loks like the physea has a simmilar face but the shell looks different in the very few pics I found on google.
I am glad to know they dont breed as fast as the pouch snails.

[Sounguru]

That is a true Pond snail you can tell by the "Donkey Ears"

The Brown and speckeled shelled ones are Acute Bladder Snail (Physella acuta Draparnaud 1805) (http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater2.html)

[pik01]

aha! I found a pdf lecture that mentions these guys. Macroinvertebrate Essentials (http://watermonitoring.uwex.edu/pdf/level3/WEPPLintonMacroEssentials.pdf). It's a pdf file and on slide 8 it says:

Pond Snails "Lymnaeidae (conispiral, dextral) - Air breathers, acute peak, right handed coil and opening. Opening not covered by a horny plug, or operculum. 5-50 mm high."

and

Pouch Snails "Physidae (conispiral, sinestral) - Air breather, no operculum, left handed coil and opening. 5-20 mm high."

there are even illustrations next to the descriptions :) Maybe with this I'll finally remember which is which.

[vampie]

That's a Lymnaeidae of some sort, you can tell by the direction the shell coils. It's dextral, like most snails. Physidae shells coil in the opposite direction. This is the easiest way to tell the two families apart.

[jackiomy]

I love the face!

[Kashta]

That's a great looking snail. I'd like to get some by accident. :)

^^ That's a hint for Msjinkd when she sends my next shipment. (I'm subtle that way.)

[stezatois]

they are cute

[ladyblues1965]

I am so glad to know what they are ! Thanks everyone. I will be keeping an eye out for eggs and babys.