Sinotaia quadrata facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sinotaia quadrata Temporal range: Upper Pleistocene-recent
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Architaenioglossa
Family:	Viviparidae
Genus:	Sinotaia
Species:	S. quadrata
Binomial name
Sinotaia quadrata (Benson, 1842)
Script error: The function "autoWithCaption" does not exist.

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

The Sinotaia quadrata is a type of freshwater snail. It has a gill to breathe underwater and a special lid called an operculum to close its shell. This snail is an aquatic gastropod mollusk and belongs to the family Viviparidae.

You can find Sinotaia quadrata in many places, especially in China and northern Vietnam. They live in shallow freshwater areas like rivers and lakes. Sometimes, there are lots of them in one place! These snails are very important for their habitat. They can even help keep the water clean and affect the tiny plants (phytoplankton) that live in the water. People in China often eat these snails.

About the Sinotaia quadrata

This snail was first described in 1842 by an English scientist named William Henry Benson. He called it Paludina quadrata. Today, it is known as Sinotaia quadrata.

Different Kinds of Sinotaia quadrata

There are two main types, or subspecies, of this snail:

• Sinotaia quadrata histrica
• Sinotaia quadrata quadrata

Where Sinotaia quadrata Lives

Distribution Around the World

You can find Sinotaia quadrata in several countries:

• Japan
• Northeast Thailand (in a region called Isan)
• China
• Vietnam
• They have also been found in Italy (in the Arno river) and Argentina, but they are not native to these places.

These snails have been around for a very long time! Scientists have found their fossils from the Upper Pleistocene period in China. This shows they have lived on Earth for thousands of years.

Sinotaia quadrata is one of the most common snails in China. It lives in big rivers like the Yangtze River and Yellow River. You can find them in many parts of China, from East to South. In Vietnam, they are also common, but usually not in huge numbers.

Their Home Environment

Sinotaia quadrata lives in many different freshwater places. These include rivers, lakes, rice paddies, pools, and slow-moving streams. They like shallow areas with soft mud that has lots of organic matter. They can move around on the mud or even bury themselves in it.

These snails don't travel far on their own. They usually spread to new places when floods carry them. Sometimes, animals or even people accidentally move them. They prefer warm water, like the temperatures found in subtropical areas. For example, in Lake Tai, they like water between 6 and 30.1 degrees Celsius (43 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit).

In some places, there can be as many as 400 snails in just one square meter! In Chao Lake, they are the most common snail. They help keep the water clear by eating tiny algae. This means they are a keystone species, which is an important species that has a big effect on its habitat.

What Sinotaia quadrata Looks Like

S. quadrata breathes using gills, just like a fish. The male snails have a thicker right tentacle than the females.

The shell of an adult snail is usually about 20 to 30 millimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inches) tall. Both male and female snails have shells of the same size. Adult snails have shells that are taller than they are wide. When they are first born, their shells are smaller, about 2.93 to 3.70 millimeters (0.11 to 0.15 inches) long. Baby snails' shells are wider than they are tall. An adult snail, including its shell, weighs about 2.8 grams (0.1 ounces).

• 

  Drawing from the type description, showing the opening of the shell.

• 

  Drawing from the type description, showing the back of the shell.

• 

  Drawing of a shell from the front, with its operculum.

• 

  Drawing of the back of a shell.

How Sinotaia quadrata Lives

What They Eat

Sinotaia quadrata mainly eats algae that grow on surfaces, called epiphytic algae. They are herbivorous deposit feeders, meaning they eat plant material and tiny bits of food from the bottom. Their diet also includes detritus (dead organic matter), bacteria, and tiny water plants. They even eat tiny algae like diatoms and cyanobacteria.

One type of Sinotaia quadrata, called Sinotaia quadrata histrica, also eats the eggs of fish like the bluegill.

Life Cycle and Reproduction

Sinotaia quadrata can have many babies. Each snail is either male or female. They are ovoviviparous, which means the mother snail keeps the eggs inside her body until they hatch. The babies are born alive. For their first 2–3 days, newborn snails attach themselves to things like adult shells or other surfaces, not the mud.

Young snails grow quickly. Their shells start at about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) and grow about 190 micrometers (0.007 inches) each day. They become adults at about nine weeks old, when their shells are 12.15 to 16.09 millimeters (0.48 to 0.63 inches) tall. After that, they grow more slowly. At this age, you can tell if they are male or female.

Snails start mating and having babies when the water temperature is around 16–18 degrees Celsius (61–64 degrees Fahrenheit). The best temperature for them is 24–26 degrees Celsius (75–79 degrees Fahrenheit). Female snails start giving birth at about 18 weeks old. They carry about 19–21 embryos inside them at a time. A female can give birth to about 50 babies per year in the wild.

Their generation time is quite short, about four months. This means they can have three generations in a year if conditions are good.

How They Handle Their Environment

Scientists study S. quadrata to see how different chemicals affect them. This helps us understand water pollution. For example, these snails are very sensitive to copper. This means they can be used to check if there is too much copper pollution in the water or sediment.

Snails from West Lake in Vietnam were found to have some metals like copper, lead, and zinc in them. This shows that the snails can take in these elements from their environment.

Conservation Status

We don't know exactly how many Sinotaia quadrata snails there are in the world, but their populations are usually large. However, water pollution and too much mud in the water can harm local groups of snails. Building dams and destroying their homes are also threats. Luckily, the snails in China have a lot of different genes, which helps them stay healthy. Because they are so common, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) says they are a "Least Concern" species, meaning they are not currently at high risk of disappearing.

Who Eats Sinotaia quadrata?

Sinotaia quadrata can have tiny parasites, like a type of worm called Aspidogaster conchicola. They can also be a host for other parasites, such as Angiostrongylus cantonensis.

One of the main predators of S. quadrata is the black carp fish. These snails are an important food source for black carp, making them a key part of the freshwater food chain.

How People Use Sinotaia quadrata

Sinotaia quadrata

Chinese food from Guangxi with Sinotaia quadrata.
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Carbohydrates	2.07 g
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	78.34 g
Crude fat	0.78 g
Crude protein	14.43 g
Crude ash	4.38 g
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults.

Sinotaia quadrata snails are often used as food for fish, especially black carp, in fish farms in China.

People also eat these snails! In Thailand, especially in the Isan region, people collect them by hand from canals, swamps, and rice fields. During the dry season, when the mud dries up, collectors use a spade to dig them out. After collecting, the snails are cleaned and cooked, often in a curry or boiled with salt and eaten with papaya salad.

In China, S. quadrata is commonly sold in markets and restaurants. It's considered a special food. These snails are also used as feed for crabs, fish, chickens, and other farm animals. In 2002, about 28,084 tons of S. quadrata were harvested from Chao Lake alone! Even though many are collected, their high genetic diversity suggests that this doesn't seem to be harming the species overall.