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Here where I live, South Korea, marine mud snails (not entirely sure what they are generally called in English) are sold as seafood for people at the fish market. You can even get them live online.
So I decided to do get some from the local fish market and try them out in my tank to see if they can make it.
I only needed a few and the seller was kind enough to sell less than a USD's worth. They were still far too many for my needs but I could always eat the leftover myself.
I did a little research before I got them. I couldn't find much but here's what I've found:
- Scientific name: Batillaria multiformis
- They live on the mudflats and the legends say they feed on the organics and diatoms on/in the mud
- It seems they are often found on the mud and simply picked up by the gatherers during the low tide. Not sure if they barrow in the mud or how often.
- They look pretty similar to Cerith snails. They both belong to the superfamily Cerithioidea, but belong to a different family (Batillariidae & Cerithiidae). No idea how distantly related that is.
- They have males and females. We, ordinary folks, cannot tell simply by looking.
- Couldn't find anyone who's tried these guys in the tank. There were other people who use/have used some other types of local marine snails that are round (also sold here as food) as algae clean-up crew with good results. One of the concerns for many was the possibility of the mud snails eating the corals since the snail species with the pointy shells are often meat eaters.
My tank has no corals so I'm not worried about them getting eaten. The only other snails I have are collonista snails (not so many at that).
My tank is almost bare bottom with very little sand not enough just to cover half the bottom.
Less than a USD worth of snails. Could've got far more for the buck if I bought more.
4 chosen snails. I picked up the bigger guys. I only temp acclimated them.
One of them had a live barnacle attached on its shell. Looks like it is trying to filter feed.
The next morning, all 4 of them seem to be still alive and moving. Don't know how well they are doing though. One of them climbed all the way up the glass, out of the water but got back inside a few minutes later.
I have some diatoms, not really an issue for me but thought maybe the snails could feed on that, some detritus, and the leftover food.
It would be cool if they can make it in the tank. Will see.
....And this is what happened to the rest of the snails. I had to search youtube to learn the recipe. They taste alright but kinda hard to pull out from the shell. You can either use the toothpick to poke the flash and roll them out or break off the end tip of the shell with a tool and suck the flash out with your mouth. .....Yes, that's really how it's done.
So I decided to do get some from the local fish market and try them out in my tank to see if they can make it.
I only needed a few and the seller was kind enough to sell less than a USD's worth. They were still far too many for my needs but I could always eat the leftover myself.
I did a little research before I got them. I couldn't find much but here's what I've found:
- Scientific name: Batillaria multiformis
- They live on the mudflats and the legends say they feed on the organics and diatoms on/in the mud
- It seems they are often found on the mud and simply picked up by the gatherers during the low tide. Not sure if they barrow in the mud or how often.
- They look pretty similar to Cerith snails. They both belong to the superfamily Cerithioidea, but belong to a different family (Batillariidae & Cerithiidae). No idea how distantly related that is.
- They have males and females. We, ordinary folks, cannot tell simply by looking.
- Couldn't find anyone who's tried these guys in the tank. There were other people who use/have used some other types of local marine snails that are round (also sold here as food) as algae clean-up crew with good results. One of the concerns for many was the possibility of the mud snails eating the corals since the snail species with the pointy shells are often meat eaters.
My tank has no corals so I'm not worried about them getting eaten. The only other snails I have are collonista snails (not so many at that).
My tank is almost bare bottom with very little sand not enough just to cover half the bottom.
Less than a USD worth of snails. Could've got far more for the buck if I bought more.
4 chosen snails. I picked up the bigger guys. I only temp acclimated them.
One of them had a live barnacle attached on its shell. Looks like it is trying to filter feed.
The next morning, all 4 of them seem to be still alive and moving. Don't know how well they are doing though. One of them climbed all the way up the glass, out of the water but got back inside a few minutes later.
I have some diatoms, not really an issue for me but thought maybe the snails could feed on that, some detritus, and the leftover food.
It would be cool if they can make it in the tank. Will see.
....And this is what happened to the rest of the snails. I had to search youtube to learn the recipe. They taste alright but kinda hard to pull out from the shell. You can either use the toothpick to poke the flash and roll them out or break off the end tip of the shell with a tool and suck the flash out with your mouth. .....Yes, that's really how it's done.