Margarita snail (Margarites pupillus) care guide

Group

Snails

Other names

Puppet margarite, Little margarite, Margarita pupilla

Family

Margaritidae

Origin

North-eastern Pacific from the Bering Sea to southern California; low intertidal to about 100 m, often on kelp

Water

saltwater

Maximum size

2.5 cm

Temperature

15–25°C

pH

8.1–8.4

Hardness

SG 1.023–1.025, dKH 8–12

Minimum tank

40 litres

Care level

beginner

Reef safe

yes

Lifespan

1–2 years

Care

The margarita snail is a small top-shaped snail with a solid, conical, greyish to salmon-coloured shell of about 1–2 cm (up to 2.5 cm), cord-like ridges and an iridescent inner lip. It comes from the cool waters of the north-eastern Pacific, from the Bering Sea to California, where it lives on kelp and rocks from the low shore down to about 100 m. Temperature: this is a cold-water snail. It does best in cooler marine tanks and can adapt to around 25–26 °C, but in a warm tropical reef it is often short-lived. Bear this in mind when buying it as clean-up crew for a tropical tank, and consider tropical species instead if your tank runs warm. Clean-up crew: a good grazer of nuisance algae, including hair algae, film algae and diatoms. It needs a steady supply of algae and will starve if the tank becomes too clean, so supplement with dried seaweed. Small size makes it suitable for nano tanks; a rough guide is one per 8–20 litres (general guidance, not from a source). Acclimatise slowly with a drip over an hour or more, as small snails are sensitive to changes in salinity. Copper: copper-based medicines and some plant fertilisers are toxic to shrimp, snails and most invertebrates. Never dose copper in a tank holding this animal, and check fertiliser and medicine labels before use. Sources: LiveAquaria (liveaquaria.com/products/margarita-snail); Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaritespupillus). Checked October 2026.

Diet

A generalist grazer. In the wild its gut contents are mainly filamentous red algae and diatoms, with sponge spicules, brown and green algae, hydroids, bryozoans and detritus; it does not eat the kelp it lives on. In the aquarium it grazes hair and film algae; offer dried seaweed when algae runs low.

Breeding

Sexes are separate and it releases eggs and sperm into the water. It does not breed in aquariums in any useful numbers, and nothing in our sources covers captive breeding.

Compatibility and tank mates

Peaceful and reef safe; ignores corals, fish and other invertebrates. Hermit crabs may kill it for its shell, and wrasses, triggers and puffers eat snails.

Last updated 8 October 2026. Community-edited care guide on Aquatic-Auctions.