Malaysian trumpet snail (Melanoides tuberculata)
These interesting little critters are sometimes found on aquatic plants, too; some people love them and others think they're a plague. There are different species with slightly different shell colours, but they are easily identified by their spiral "tower" shaped shells. Malaysian trumpet snails (often abbreviated as MTS) do not eat healthy live plants, but they will eat just about anything else they can get their radulae on—dead or dying plant matter, leftover fish food, some algae (if there is nothing they like better) and dead tankmates. If something dies in a tank with MTS in it and you want to get it out before they eat it, you'd better hurry because they don't waste any time. MTS are nocturnal snails and spend the daylight hours burrowing in the substrate. They will do their best to burrow in gravel, but love sandy substrate and because they burrow, will act as "aquatic earthworms" to help keep sand aerated. Though they are not large snails and usually don't grow over 1", they are prolific and reportedly parthenogenic, so even if you start with only one, don't count on ending up with only one because that is MOST unlikely! Don't look for egg clutches with these guys; they are livebearing snails.
