Do you know that one of the beauties and joy of having aquarium is to have snails in it, but this do need a careful procedures because some snails are pest, so that you don’t end up trying to curtail them, due to the fact that many of them reproduce asexually and could reproduce in large numbers. Talking of snails, one of the finest snails to have in your aquarium are Nerite snails. This is due to their beauty and their efforts in cleaning the tank by eating algae. So do they reproduce asexually?.
Do Nerite Snails reproduce asexually? Nerite Snails have male and female. The female lay eggs while the male fertilize the eggs through mating with the female. Nerite snails are not asexual.
You will agree with me that many aquarium snails out there are asexual and hermaphrodites.
Related: Do Mystery Snails Reproduce Asexually?
Water Snails are divided into two, those who could reproduce by themselves without any intercourse with another snail.
These snails have both male and female organs inside them, (Asexual) which they use to reproduce once they reach maturity stage, and they can reproduce really faster than those that are not asexual.
That’s why most of the asexual reproducers are tagged pests. Because they can easily overrun your fish tank.
Related: Can Baby Mystery Snails Reproduce?
The other type of aquarium snails, which Nerite snails fall into is non asexual snails.
This type of snails are very perfect for tanks and they make good tank mate with many fishes and so many other aquarium animals, because they don’t breed that much, and so don’t easily turn to pest.
Nerite being non-asexual snail is because they have male and female and does not have both organs in one snail.
Related: Can Mystery Snails and Apple Snails mate?
This means that each sex can’t be able to breed or reproduce unless the other sex mate with him or her, then they could be able to produce offsprings by having the female to lay fertile eggs which later turns to become baby Nerite Snails.
So if you want to have your Nerite snails to reproduce, you will need to get both male and female together because they are not asexual.
Related: Why Nerite Snails flip themselves over
Will Nerite Snails Lay Eggs without Male?
knowing that Nerite snails are sexual and not asexual or hermaphrodites, also judging by how the female mystery snails could be able to lay eggs without Male. Can Nerite Snails lay eggs with male?
Yes, female Nerite Snails could lay eggs, just like female mystery snails could, but the eggs will not be fertile without the male sperm and won’t hatch.
This is a very common feature of sexual snails that have different sexes.
Although the females might lay eggs when they reach maturity stage without the male mating with her, but the eggs can’t be able to hatch because they are not yet fertilized and have no life in them.
Related: Do Mystery Snails hibernate?
Unfortunately, the eggs will eventually become waste, no matter what! For the fact that they are not fertilized by a male sperm.
This is very common for female Nerite snails and mystery snails.
In some cases, you might think they can reproduce by themselves, just because you bought a Nerite snail and all of a sudden, she lay eggs and hatch them.
Related: Can dead Snail kill fish?
Let me tell you, one thing common with some of these sexual snails like Nerite is, the females have the ability to store male sperm in her body for months, in that case, she could be able to fertilize her eggs with it, as long as the sperm is still inside her.
They normally store the sperm cells in their body during mating season and could use them to fertilize their eggs in months to come.
Related: Can Hermit Crabs Live With Cichlids?
So this is why your single Nerite snail could lay fertilized eggs and hatch them.
But when the sperm runs out, she will still need to mate in order to fertilize future eggs that she will lay.
So Nerite snails are not asexual, and a single Nerite can not be able to lay fertilized eggs all on her own without meeting a male or having male sperm in her body.
Related: Can Rainbow Sharks be kept with Neon Tetras?
Do Nerite Snails Reproduce in Freshwater?
One of the popular questions people normally ask about Nerite snails reproduction is, ” do they actually reproduce in freshwater? ” This particular question is very common among newbies in aquarium and fish keeping. Who might have Nerite snails in freshwater waiting for them to lay eggs and for the eggs to hatch. Alright, I gat your back on this.
Do Nerite Snails Reproduce in Freshwater? No, they do not reproduce in freshwater. They only reproduce in brackish water because the low salinity level in freshwater is not suitable for their eggs. Even if they hatch, the larvae will not survive in freshwater.
Forget that they could be able to live comfortably in both freshwater and brackish water, that’s what made them unique from other snails, but the fact is, no matter how long they live in freshwater, they can not hatch their eggs.
Related: Can Gouramis and Bettas coexist?
Although the females could be able to lay eggs, but hatching them is where the problem is, because freshwater is not suitable for their eggs because of it’s lack of salinity.
Normally, Nerite snails are classified as brackish water snails and not freshwater.
Because they thrive more on salty water than freshwater, so do their eggs.
Their eggs, no matter how fertile it might be do require salty water for them to develop and hatch, if not, they won’t, no matter how fertilized they may be.
Related: Can Guppies and Tiger Barbs coexist?
If eventually they do hatch, the larvae or baby Nerite snails won’t survive in freshwater.
How Often do Nerite Snails Lay Eggs?
If you already have or already bought them, both male and female, and you see them mate so often, you may be wondering ”how often the female will lay eggs.
How often do Nerite Snails lay eggs? Nerite Snails can lay eggs once in a month and 30-100+ eggs at once if the environment is conducive and they are being fed alot.
Like I mentioned before and in some of my articles, one of the determinants of how snails breed is how well they eat and how suitable the environment is, so if the environment is right, and they are eating enough, then Nerite snails will Reproduce more often than normal.
Related: Can Snails ans Crayfish coexist?
Every snail is like this, both those that do reproduce sexually or asexually, hence they eat alot, they will reproduce alot.
Although if the environment is suitable for them too.
How to tell is Nerite snail Eggs are Fertilized
Like I’ve mentioned, sometimes the female Nerite will lay eggs without mating any male and so will have eggs that are not fertile and can’t catch. So how do we know if the eggs are fertilized or not?
Fertilized Nerite snail eggs do have some black spots in them, especially when they are about to hatch. But unfertilized egg are only transparent and can’t hatch because there is nothing in them.
This species of snail are always fond of scattering their eggs everywhere in the tank.
Related: Can Crayfish change color?
So if you are curious you might try checking some of them.
Although the eggs have something like glue that tie them anywhere they are, so touching then can be catastrophic.
Do Male Nerite Snails Lay Eggs?
It’s true that some snails do mate and both of them will lay eggs, but do male Nerite lay eggs?
No, male Nerite snails do not lay eggs. Female Nerite lay eggs while the the male fertilize the eggs.
Nerite Snails are alot different from other type of snails, especially those that are hermaphrodites, nor those type of snails that could mate and the two of the sexes will lay eggs.
Nerite ain’t one of them because they have male and female with their different roles in reproduction process.
Conclusion
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