Colombo, Sri Lanka, 26.4mm., 1970s
Paludomus loricatus is a prickly and attractive freshwater snail endemic to India and Sri Lanka. The fine-scale distribution is not well-understood especially outside Sri Lanka as it is recorded from a few disjunct localities in India (e.g., Assam and Arunachal Pradesh) but not between them. This is likely to be a result of either poor sampling efforts or misidentificaton with other Paludomus species. Also, although more than fifty species of Paludomus have been described from the region, freshwater snails may vary considerably in morphology depending on environmental factors many are likely to be synonyms of P. loricatus. It is a herbivorous algae-grazing gastropod inhabiting slightly acidic and slow-flowing mountain streams, and is locally common (especially in Sri Lanka where it is one of the most common Paludomus species). Somewhat variable in spire height, many carry striking pattern of zig-zag lines but is usually concealed under the rather thick, brown periostracum. It is a popular algae-grazer species for freshwater aquarists and are kept and bred in aquaria around the globe outside its natural range. Typical shell length around 30mm., giant specimens may exceed 40mm.