Snails in Early Development Stage..??

I've never experienced this before in any tank, but as I was turning off my lights in my tank last night, I noticed several little organisms on my tank walls. They ranged from like, half a mm to maybe 2mm.

They had a clear body, with a dark center. Oval shaped. ( o ) <--kind of looking like that.

I noticed that they move...very VERY slowly.

Is this the early stage of a snail colony? Is it an infestation of kinds? Some kind of micro-organism? I've never seen, if these are "baby" snails, anything that looks like this.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

are they fuzzy? snail veligers (babies) look kind of like mini jellyfish.... if they're fuzzy, they might be placozoa, but i dont know if they're freshwater or strictly marine... if you could get a pic, i'm good with microorganisms...

[Caleb Leeke]

Hi Jackie,

I have lots of what I assume are freshwater limpets in some of my tanks, they sound similar to what you describe. They never seem to get more than about 5mm across, and have never caused me any problems.

Hmm, I'll take a picture tonight when I get home from work. It's a freshwater tank. Temp is always between 60-62.

They dont seem to be fuzzy, and I squished one...even tho they are pretty tiny, and it made a kind of "crunching" sound. Yech.

Anyway, there seems to be more and more by the day...they arent really a problem, I'd just like to know what they are, why they are in my tank, if they are beneficial, and, most importantly, if they will be any harm to my newts.

depends. the newts might eat them, or you might need to do a total tank change to get rid of them....

a crunch.... maybe a small crustacean? a pic would help!

Yeah, thats why I figured they were baby snails.

I didnt have time to get a pic yesterday, but I'll forsure get one tonight. Thanks for the help so far.

[Caleb Leeke]

There are some pictures of 'lake limpets' here, I'm pretty sure these are what I get in my tanks:

http://www.applesnail.net/content/sn...hp#Acroloxidae

are they anything like yours?

http://www.applesnail.net/content/ph...acustris_r.jpg

YES! That's what they are.

mystery solved, go caleb!