boy or girl?

shoreliner

shoreliner

AC Members
Mar 3, 2007
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Virginia, USA
www.vdh.virginia.gov
two apple snails. No breeding going on so I think I may have two the same sex. But I don't know for sure what i am looking at. On the snails' right sides under the shell there is a "pipe" on both snails, but I think it is the end of the gut. Will you guys look at the pics and see what you think?

IMG_0441.JPG IMG_0446.JPG
 
I think the pipe you are looking at is just the breathing siphon, not private parts. If you had a boy & girl, you'd definately have mating going on so definately you've got either both boys or girls, but I don't know which. I can only ID sex in mine when I see them mating, which is all the time.
 
the best wat to tell the sexes is to hold them upside down, and in simple terms if you just see a hole a fem, if you see an apenditure on the left above the head its male.
i find it best doing this with a glass of water from the tank and hold the snail as i said just under the surface and be patiant.


good luck!!
 
I don't know what it is, but I know it isn't the breathing siphon. The siphon is on the snail's left side (your right) and is flatter and narrower.

I've read they don't start breeding until they're about an inch in diameter. It might be too soon right now.
 
The penis sheath on a male snail does not have spots, the breathing siphon does.. FYI, snails with light colored shells have another advantage, when sexing. The females have a dark spot near the point of the shell when they are ovulating. Male snails don't ovulate, so they don't have the dark spot.
 
Can you specify what type of apple snail? Different types have different siphons and siphon locations. http://www.applesnail.net/content/anatomy/respiration.php

If your snail is a pomacea bridgessi (mystery snail), that is absolutely not a siphon. If your snail is a pomacea canaliculata, it probably is the siphon. P. canalicultata eats most plants, by the way.

I tried getting pictures of the siphons on my mystery snails, but my camera is seriously not cut out for aquarium photography. They weren't turning out good.
 
I'm thinking P. bridgesi but I really am not sure. They generally don't bother my plants...only the anacharis got hit, and it wasn't hit hard.

The first pic is a much smaller snail, maybe about an inch is all. The other is about twice that size. The big one does have a darker area around the point on the shell...the shell is pale enough I can see something moving inside sometimes. The other one is less translucent..I don't think it had a dark spot though.

I wonder if the LFS would let me try to sex their apple snails? :)
 
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