''Vittina natalensis'', common name spotted nerite, is a species of small

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

with an operculum, an aquatic

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Vittina natalensis (Reeve, 1855). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1353177 on 2021-09-26 It returns to brackish waters to reproduce. This is a popular

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

snail, sold because it looks attractive and eats algae in freshwater tanks, but does not multiply under aquarium conditions. It requires a pH above 7.0 to thrive.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the coastal plain of

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

-- Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania. Its specific name ''natalensis'' refers to the region of Natal, South Africa.

Human use

This species is a common choice of

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

-eating snail among freshwater aquarists. In the

trade, the striped shell of this species has caused it to be known as the tiger snail, zebra snail, or zebra nerite. (The name zebra nerite is however misleading, because there are several species of nerite that have that common name, including ''

Puperita pupa ''Puperita pupa'' is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites. Description The shell is thin but strong, globular, not presenting a prominent spire. There are 2 to 3 whorls, the outer lip is ...

'', a small marine nerite from the tropical western Atlantic.) The stripes in some individuals may display as zigzags, dashes or spots. In an aquarium, the shell of this species grows to about 2.5 cm (one inch) in diameter. This snail prefers an aquarium temperature of 22 to 26 °C. Neritina natalensis.jpg, Vittina natalensis in an aquarium Nerite Snail.jpg, A Nerite Snail moving over aquarium glass

References

* Eichhorst T.E. (2016). Neritidae of the world. Volume 2. Harxheim: Conchbooks. Pp. 696-1366

External links

eeve, L. A. (1855-1856). Monograph of the genus Neritina. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 9, pls 1-37 and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London.
Neritidae Gastropods described in 1845 Freshwater snails of Africa Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Neritidae-stub