Name: Ốc Sula Marwoto - Rabbit Snail - Tép Sulawesi
Brand: Jack Shrimp

Sulawesi Snail · Lake Mahalona

Tylomelania marwotoae

Marwoto Rabbit Snail

One of the very few rabbit snails in the trade with a species name you can actually stand behind. Juveniles hatch with a black shell that turns snow-white as they mature, against a dark body. A soft-sediment specialist, and more temperature-tolerant than most Malili species.

A real described speciesLake Mahalona, MaliliWhite shell, black body

A rabbit snail is not a cleaning crew — it's a collector's animal, and it has to be kept like one.

— Jack Shrimp Farm

ORIGIN

Lake Mahalona, and a name given to a scientist

Tylomelania marwotoae was described by Rintelen, Bouchet & Glaubrecht in 2007 and named for the Indonesian malacologist Ristiyanti M. Marwoto. The correct spelling is marwotoae — the '-ae' ending is the feminine genitive; the trade spellings 'marwoto' and 'marwotoe' are simply wrong. The importer Aquarium Glaser gives the origin as Lake Mahalona in the Malili system, South Sulawesi. It is also one of only two Tylomelania listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

DISTRIBUTION MAP

An ancient cradle

Sulawesi shrimp are endemic to a handful of ancient tectonic lakes — 1–4 million years old, among the oldest freshwater lakes on earth.

Lake MatanoHome of Cardinal & White Sock (C. dennerli)

Lake PosoHome of White Orchid, Blue Legs (C. “Poso”)

Towuti · MahalonaThe Malili lake system, linked by rivers

IDENTIFICATION

Identifying the Marwoto

🐚A shell that changes colourJuveniles hatch with black shells; adults develop a pale cream to snow-white shell. It is the most reliable identifying feature this species has.

🏝️A soft-sediment ploughmanIt does not graze rock like most rabbit snails — it ploughs sand and silt for detritus. Give it a deep patch of fine sand and slowly-disintegrating sinking food.

🌡️Wider temperature rangeReported to do well at 24–26 °C, cooler than the 27–29 °C most Malili species want. It still needs an alkaline pH and a stable KH.

✍️Spelled marwotoaeNamed after the malacologist Ristiyanti M. Marwoto. 'Marwoto' and 'marwotoe' are the two misspellings circulating on retail pages.

WATER

Ideal keeping conditions

26–30°

Temp C

7.5–8.5

100–200

TDS ppm

6–12

3–8

The Sulawesi lakes are hot and alkaline but genuinely SOFT — Matano measures 28.7°C, pH 8.5, GH 7, KH 5 and around 87 ppm TDS. So do not chase a very high GH: a stable alkaline pH and enough KH to buffer it are what matter. Stability still beats perfect numbers.

SHELL

KH is what keeps the shell intact. An eroded apex is completely normal on a wild-caught adult — the warning sign is fresh erosion or pitting at the NEW growth near the aperture, which means KH and minerals in the tank are dropping.

SPECIES DATA

Marwoto data

Species data

Scientific name: Tylomelania marwotoae
Identification confidence: Likely correct
Home lake: Mahalona (Malili system)
Adult size: 3–5cm
Preferred substrate: Fine sand / silt — a ploughman
IUCN status: Endangered

Wild species — natural profile

A wild-caught animal from the Malili lake system. Unlike most rabbit snails on the market, this one has a properly described scientific name and a conservation assessment of its own.

Origin: Lake Mahalona, Malili system, South Sulawesi — the middle lake between Matano and Towuti, about 73 m deep. Mahalona alone holds 9 Tylomelania species, 4 of them found nowhere else.

Natural habitat: Soft sand and silt on the floor of an ancient lake: warm, alkaline, mineral-poor water. This is the domain of the soft-substrate specialists, not the rock grazers.

Behaviour & diet: It ploughs soft sediment for detritus and biofilm rather than scraping hard surfaces. The radula of this group has its own distinctive tooth shape, adapted to mud.

Conservation: Listed Endangered by the IUCN. The Malili catchment is under pressure from nickel mining and sedimentation. Stock is essentially all wild-caught, so grow it on and breed it.

Keeping note: Give it 3–4 cm of fine sand to bury into, plus slow-dissolving sinking food or a fine powder. A bare-glass tank starves this species very slowly and very quietly.

BREEDING & SHELL

Why rabbit snails stay rare

🍼Live-bearing, not egg-layingMales and females are separate animals; the female broods in a uterine pouch and releases one fully-shelled crawl-away juvenile.

1️⃣One baby at a timeAbout one juvenile per female every 4–6 weeks (broods hold 1–7). This is exactly why rabbit snails stay rare and expensive.

🐢Very slow growthRoughly a year and about 4 cm to reach maturity. Lifespan 1–3 years, with records up to 5.

🐚Shell & mineralsHold KH 3–8 and feed enough calcium. An eroded apex is normal; erosion on new shell growth is the alarm.

HYBRIDISATION

Different Tylomelania species DO hybridise in aquaria. If you want to keep a line pure for breeding, keep one species per tank. Mixed-species tanks are for display only.

FOOD & SET-UP

The matching set-up

COMMON MISTAKE

Rabbit snails are NOT an algae crew. They graze biofilm and detritus, they will not clear a nuisance-algae problem, and they must be fed. Keeping them 'to clean the tank' is the single most common reason they quietly starve over a few months.

FEEDING

Omnivorous, mostly biofilm, detritus and blanched vegetables. Add White Powder + Yellow Powder 2–3 times a week, plus blanched pumpkin or cucumber for growth. A Sula Sand substrate holds the alkaline pH long-term and gives the soft-sediment species somewhere to plough for detritus.