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SnailsChopstick snail | (Stenomelania torulosa) care & info
If you're looking for an unusual and decorative freshwater aquarium snail to add to your shrimp aquarium, why not consider Stenomelania torulosa? Better known as the chopstick snail, this relatively large but peaceful species will leave your shrimp alone. It contributes to aquarium health by burrowing and eating detritus.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about the chopstick snail and its care!
| Scientific name | Stenomelania torulosa |
| Common name | Chopstick snail |
| Difficulty level | Easy |
| Origin | Coastal Indo-Pacific |
Table of Contents
Chopstick snail appearance & natural habitat
Stenomelania torulosa is often listed as a Sulawesi snail. However, we took a bit of a dive into the available scientific literature and concluded that its natural range is actually much broader than that! It seems this snail is naturally found in freshwater and brackish rivers, streams, ponds and lakes in a wide range of coastal areas in the tropical Indo-Pacific. For example, it's common in Thailand and India.
Although they occur in mixed habitats, chopstick snails clearly prefer freshwater. They retreat into their shells whenever the tide comes in and salinity rises (Bandel, Glaubrecht & Riedel, 1997).
In the aquarium, the chopstick snail is appreciated for its decorative, elongated and pointy shell, which varies in color from almost black at the tip to a lighter brown at the opening. This whorled shell can grow to a maximum length of up to 4". It's almost always slightly worn, although this doesn't seem to bother the snails. The species is also sometimes called the long-nosed snail due to the unusual shape of its body.
Note: There are a few aquarium snails out there that look pretty similar to the chopstick snail. This includes Malaysian trumpet snails, which are smaller, as well as chocolate rabbit snails from the Tylomelania genus, whose shell isn't quite as pointy.
Chopstick snail aquarium
Chopsticks snails aren't too fussy when it comes to their environment. Due to their larger size, we'd recommend them for aquariums of 10 gallons and up in water volume. A soft substrate is appreciated because the species likes to burrow, although it's not an absolute must.
Very densely planted or decorated tanks can give this snail a little trouble due to its large and unwieldy shell.
Water parameters
When it comes to snails, one factor that's important to keep in mind is that they don't do well in very soft or acidic water. A low pH can cause their shells to deteriorate over time, in extreme cases to a point where they break. Lack of dissolved minerals in the water column (low gH, kH and Total Dissolved Solids) can make a snail unable to take up enough calcium to grow its shell, although the use of calcium supplements can help counteract this.
Other than this, the most important thing is to make sure the tank is fully cycled before you introduce any snails or other livestock. Ammonia and nitrite levels should always remain at 0. Nitrates can be higher, but are also toxic at high concentrations, so you should do weekly water changes to keep them down.
Lastly, avoid copper-based medications and fertilizers. These are highly toxic to invertebrates like snails.
pH: 7-8
Temperature: 71.5-86 °F
GH: 6-12
Tankmates
Like many other popular aquarium snails, the chopstick snail is appreciated for its peaceful disposition. It's popular among shrimp enthusiasts because it leaves even the smallest and most fragile shrimp alone. It also makes a good addition to peaceful community aquariums.
Be sure to avoid combining your chopstick snails with any fish species that may bother it by nipping at its antennae or trying to eat it.
Chopstick snail diet
If you're looking for a snail specifically to help you keep up with algae control, this unfortunately isn't it. Have a look at something like red racer nerite snails or horned nerites instead! Chopstick snails are not algae eaters, instead preferring to consume detritus and scavenge.
That doesn't mean the species is not a useful addition to your aquarium, though: one thing aquarists appreciate about it is that it likes to burrow. By doing so, it keeps the substrate aerated, helping to prevent toxic anaerobic pockets from forming.
In larger aquariums you won't have to pay much special attention to your chopstick snails in terms of food. They'll be able to find enough decaying plant matter, biofilm and leftover food to keep them going just fine. In smaller tanks, it's probably a good idea to supplement their diet with a quality invertebrate food, blanched vegetables or even just regular old fish flakes.
Breeding chopstick snails
Since this snail is relatively new in the aquarium hobby, there is still a bit of confusion out there about its reproductive biology. It's clear that this species doesn't have the capacity to overrun the aquarium and reach pest status, which is a huge plus. However, some sources note that it can only breed in brackish water. This would mean no offspring at all in our freshwater tanks. Others state that it does breed in freshwater, but only one baby snail at a time. Which is true?
We dove into the available literature and concluded that supporters of the brackish theory are in the right (Bandel, Glaubrecht & Riedel,1997; Wiggering, Neiber, Krailas & Glaubrecht, 2019). The other camp is probably thinking about rabbit snails from the Tylomelania genus. These do tend to produce one offspring at a time even in freshwater.
Chopstick snails release up to 3000 larvae (veligers) into brackish water. Baby snails were found in the lower ends of mangrove tributaries, where the salinity is quite high. As they matured, they appeared to migrate to the upper ends. These feature lower salinity or freshwater even at high tide. As such, if you'd want to breed these snails in the aquarium, it would probably be similar to breeding something like Amano shrimp.
Frequently asked questions
No! Malaysian trumpet snails, which are commonly considered pests, belong to the genus Melanoides. The chopstick snail is a different species, belonging to the genus Stenomelania.
Apiraksena, K., Namchote, S., Komsuwan, J., Dechraksa, W., Tharapoom, K., Veeravechsukij, N., ... & Krailas, D. (2020). Survey of Stenomelania Fisher, 1885 (Cerithioidea, Thiaridae): The potential of trematode infections in a newly-recorded snail genus at the coast of Andaman Sea, South Thailand. Zoosystematics and Evolution, 96, 807.