Like most neritine snails, Clithon sowerbianum, known as the mini neritine snail, is extremely variably colored. As early as the 19th century, a number of variants were therefore scientifically named, but these are no longer considered to be of systematic importance. However, it must be clearly stated that the identification of the 57 accepted Clithon species (according to the international scientific database WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species)) is a matter for specialists.
Ultimately, however, the exate species identification of Clithon is rather irrelevant from an aquaristic point of view, as all species remain small (around 2 cm), live in fresh and brackish water, are good algae eaters and do not reproduce without special breeding aquariums with seawater. They are therefore similar in their care requirements.
More recently, in Southeast Asia, the home of these snails, the exporters have begun to sort them according to color. A particularly popular color sorting of Clithon sowerbianum is “Pink Lady”, in which a deep pink base coloration is the selection criterion. However, the shell colouration of C. sowerbianum is so variable that you can actually recognize almost any individual by it. It seems to behave like the fingerprints of us humans. Fascinating, isn’t it?
For our customers: “Pink Lady” has code 485490 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
