Neritina natalensis Neritina natalensis, common name spotted nerite, a species of small freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites. It returns to brackish waters to reproduce. Scientific classification Kingdom:Animalia Phylum:Mollusca Class:Gastropoda (unranked):clade Neritimorpha clade Cycloneritimorpha Superfamily:Neritoidea Family:Neritidae Subfamily:Neritininae Tribe:Neritinini Genus:Neritina Species:N. natalensis Binomial name:Neritina natalensis Reeve, L.A., 1845 Synonyms Vittina natalensis This is a popular aquarium snail, sold because it looks attractive and eats algae in freshwater tanks, but does not multiply under aquarium conditions. It requires a pH above 7.0 to thrive. Distribution This species is endemic to the coastal plain of East Africa -- Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania. Its specific name natalensis refers to the region of Natal, South Africa. Human use This species is a common choice of algae-eating snail among freshwater aquarists. In the aquarium trade, the striped shell of this species has caused it to be known as the tiger snail, zebra snail, or zebra nerite. (The name zebra nerite is however misleading, because there are several species of nerite that have that common name, including Puperita pupa, a small marine nerite from the tropical western Atlantic.) The stripes in some individuals may display as zigzags, dashes or spots.[citation needed] In an aquarium, the shell of this species grows to about 2.5 cm (one inch) in diameter. This snail prefers an aquarium temperature of 22 to 26 °C.