Are snails born with shells?

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Dustin83

AC Members
Nov 17, 2005
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Orange County, CA
I've got to admit... I am definitely no biologist.

Are snails already born with shells?


To help with the algae, I got two turbo snails from LFS about 3 months ago. Up to this point, I have not seen any snails in the tank for as far as I can remember. Soon enough, I started seeing some baby snails here and there, all with their own shells! Each one's probably 1/8 of an inch in diameter. Now 3 months later, I just did a rough counting, and I see well over 20.. probably more considering that I've only counted ones on the glass and the equipments.

Did these guys come from the two turbo snails? I heard that it was pretty tough to breed these guys.
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
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Mobile, Alabama
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Andrew
Are they born with it? The short answer is no. The development begins very, very early in the trochophore stage from a small gland. That is why it seems like they may be born with it. Now, to further add to the confusion, many of the Trochoidean snails we keep to feed on film algae are capable of giving live young (meaning they develop internally), so they are "born" with shells, though technically not.
 
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