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Our Study Organism
Reproductive Biology
A two-minute refresher on genetics.
Hypothesis
Methods, Phase (1)
FAQs
Methods, Phase (2)
Methods, Phase (3)
An open letter to the breeders and distributors.
Download this entire website as a [pdf] document.
The photo of the ivory mystery snail directly above is from an 11Apr17 post by Mr. Chris Smith on Snails, Snails, Snails.
The photo at the top of this page is from a 3Sept18 post by Ms. Jody Van Sickle.
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The MSCGP v2.0 is a crowdsourced effort to understand the inheritance of color polymorphism in Pomacea diffusa, the commercially-popular “mystery snail” common in home aquariums worldwide. The project is coordinated by Dr. Rob Dillon, a genetics professor who retired from the College of Charleston in 2016 to dedicate the remainder of his pathetically-nerdy life to freshwater gastropods. Dr. Dillon has over 50 years of research experience working with the genetics, ecology, and evolutionary biology of mollusks.
The project germinated in 2018, but barely grew and bore no fruit whatsoever in its first seven years, primarily because, in retrospect, the suggested methodology was impractical for home application. Hit [this link] to download an archival copy of the original MSCGP v1.0 website, if you’re perversely curious about what didn’t work.
The present Version 2.0 of the Mystery Snail Color Genetics Project went online in February of 2026 with revised techniques guaranteed to be more practical for aquarium hobbyists. Would you like to join us? Membership is open to everybody! All you need is:
- At least some experience in the home culture of mystery snails, and a willingness to learn.
- At least one female* mystery snail of the color form usually called “ivory,” and one female* mystery snail of the color usually called “brown” or “black.” More would be better. Lots more would be lots better. Ivory mystery snails can be recognized by their completely unpigmented body and shell. Brown/black are exactly the opposite. See the photos below left. Notice the asterisk by that modifier, “female.” See Point #5 in the section entitled “Reproductive Biology” for more.
- Or newly-hatched babies from an ivory mother and newly-hatched babies from a brown/black mother in your home aquarium right now. If you are at that stage, you’re way ahead of most of us. Go directly to "Methods, Phase (2)."
- At least two aquaria dedicated to the culture of mystery snails. More would be better. Lots more would be lots better. You can set these aquaria up according to your personal preferences – size, water quality, temperature, filtration method, and so forth. Feed your snails whatever diet you prefer. I recommend that you not culture fish together with your mystery snails. Plants are OK. And (honestly) other species of snails (like Physa) are also OK. Not ideal, but we can live with them.
- You will need a camera or smartphone to photograph any offspring you may be able to hatch. Everybody likes baby pictures!
- I will need your name and email address. We will communicate among ourselves via email. Your intrepid coordinator does not text, twitter, tweet, instachat or snapgram. He barely understands Facebook and does not understand what “IM” means, at all. Please email DillonR@fwgna.org if you need to communicate with me or call 843-670-8002 during regular business hours. I only understand complete English sentences correctly spelled, capitalized, and punctuated.
Ready to get started?
Hit these links, in this order:
- Our study organism
- Reproductive biology
- A two-minute refresher on genetics
- Hypothesis
- Methods, Phase (1)
- FAQs
- Email me, and introduce yourself!
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