Engina mendicaria ‘Bumblebee snail’

Beschreibung

Engina mendicaria - The conspicuous bumblebee snail for the marine aquarium

Description and features

The Engina mendicaria, known as the Bumblebee Snail, is a small but extremely attractive marine nudibranch with distinctive black and yellow banding. Its lively pattern is reminiscent of the appearance of a bumblebee and makes it a popular eye-catcher in the marine aquarium. With a size of usually 1-2 cm, it remains compact and is ideal for nano and reef tanks.

Keeping in a marine aquarium

Bumblebee snails are robust, peaceful and nocturnal bottom dwellers that prefer to move in crevices and over the substrate. They actively contribute to cleaning the tank by picking up detritus, food residues and small pieces of carrion. In this way, they support general hygiene in the aquarium. They can be kept well with fish, shrimps and corals and do not require any special conditions, apart from stable water values and a sandy to mixed substrate.

Care and nutrition

The nutrition of the Engina mendicaria consists of detritus, organic residues and small meat components. In nutrient-poor aquaria, they can also be fed finely chopped frozen foods such as mysis, artemia or krill. As pure waste recyclers, they are valuable helpers in the aquarium, but not classic algae eaters.

With its attractive coloration, easy care and useful cleaning work, the bumblebee snail is an ideal inhabitant for every reef and nano aquarium.