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

Sulawesi Snail · Larona River (Malili)

Tylomelania cf. sinabartfeldi

Triangel Rabbit Snail

The 'triangle' name comes from the shell: short, squat, with a wide spire angle, more a blunt cone than the long tower most rabbit snails carry. And it is a river animal, not a lake animal — it lives on submerged logs in the lower Larona River.

Short triangular shellLarona River, riverineBlack headfoot

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

The lower Larona — flowing water, not a lake

Tylomelania sinabartfeldi von Rintelen & Glaubrecht, 2008 was described from the lower reaches of the Larona River, the outflow of Lake Towuti in the Malili system. Its habitat is submerged logs in strong current at 0.1–1 m depth. The holotype measures just 24.0 × 18.5 mm with a spire angle of 45–85° — exactly the squat profile hobbyists call 'Triangel'. At least one US vendor sells the Triangle Rabbit Snail under this species name, which is why we write 'cf.': convincing, but not formally confirmed.

IDENTIFICATION

Identifying the Triangel

🔺Short, squat shellConic to subglobose, a wide 45–85° spire angle, only 3–6 remaining whorls and spiral ribs only. Nothing like the long spire of the other forms.

📏3–5 cm, not 5–8The shell reaches about 27 mm and the whole extended animal 3–5 cm. The 5–8 cm figure on Vietnamese retail pages is copied boilerplate and inflated.

🖤Black headfootThe head and foot are black, and the mantle edge is serrated to varying degrees between individuals. The shell is brown and medium-sized.

🌊Wants flow and woodAs a river species it is used to clinging to submerged timber in current. A gentle powerhead and some driftwood suit it better than still water over bare sand.

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

Triangel data

Species data

Scientific name: Tylomelania cf. sinabartfeldi
Identification confidence: Probable, not confirmed
Origin: Lower Larona River (Malili system)
Shell size: ~27mm
Whole animal: 3–5cm
Where it sits: Submerged wood in current

Wild species — natural profile

A wild-caught animal, and one of the very few rabbit snails on the market that is not a lake species — which changes how you should lay the tank out for it.

Origin: The lower Larona River, South Sulawesi — the river draining Lake Towuti in the Malili system. The species was described in 2008 and named after Sina Bartfeld.

Natural habitat: Submerged logs in strong current at 0.1–1 m depth. Not the still sand bed at the bottom of an ancient lake that most trade rabbit snails come from.

Behaviour & diet: Rasps biofilm and attached algae off wood and rock. Hard-substrate grazers have a robust radula, so thin plant leaves such as Java fern are sometimes grazed too.

Conservation: The Larona has been dammed for hydropower, on top of nickel mining and sedimentation across the Malili catchment. Essentially all stock is wild-caught.

Keeping note: Build the layout around driftwood and rock, with fine sand as a secondary. A gentle current across the wood thickens the biofilm — that is where it actually eats.

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.