There are a number of snails that are employed to help turn the upper layers of the sand bed and to scavenge on food items that come to rest on the aquarium bottom. Most of these are small, relatively bland-looking snails. For example, the members of the genus Nassarius are probably the most often utilized in this role. There common name, mud snails, attests not only to their habitat preferences but also their not so sexy appearance! But there is a genus of gastropods that is not only effective at clean-up duties, but also are very attractive. These are the snails in the genus Babylonia (family Babyloniidae), two or more of which show-up in the aquarium trade on occasion (including Babylonia zeylanica and B. formosae). These snails sport butterscotch colored blotches on a white to yellowish-cream background. They reach an appreciable size for a snail (around 2.5 inches) and are harvested for human consumption in some parts of Asia.
