Tectus Snail

With its distinctive shaped shell the Tectus Snail is also known as the Turban Snail or Pyramid Snail. This snail is generally found in shades of white, tan or brown. Its foot is white with distinctive black dots. This smaller sized snail will grow to a maximum size of 2.5” in captivity.

The Tectus Snail is found in the Indo-Pacific region where it inhabits coral reefs and surrounding rock. It is generally most active at night and will spend the day hiding in small caves and crevices in the rock. In the home aquarium it appreciates ample live rock with lots of hiding places. In captivity they are not strictly nocturnal and can often be seen scavenging during the day. It does not require a substrate but will also scour the sandbed for algae if one is available.

The Tectus snail can play a valuable role in any tank’s cleanup crew. They are tireless consumers of algae, especially various types of green algae. They will also consume smaller amounts of diatoms and cyanobacteria. They are a completely reef safe snail and will not bother corals. Their smaller size also means that they are unlikely to knock over corals while foraging. They can generally find enough food as long as they are added to a mature aquarium, but they can be fed seaweed if necessary.

Like many snails, the Tectus Snail is unable to right itself if it falls onto its back. In the event that a snail ends up upside down they must be turned back over to prevent them from becoming prey for hermit crabs. Its relatively heavy shell means that the Tectus Snail is somewhat more prone to this than other snails, but their voracious appetite for algae makes this a reasonable trade off.

The Tectus Snail will sometimes spontaneously breed in a mature aquarium. The snail will expel their gametes, which may temporarily appear cloudy in the water and, in a few months, small snails will be visible on the glass or substrate when the lights go off. These snails will then grow into mature Tectus Snails.