dead snail leaves a surprise

[codyjp]

I had a turbo that kept rolling over on his back but was still tucked into his shell. Now, today, his shell is emtpy (he must be a gonner) but there is a small disk about 2/3 of the size of a dime sitting next to his shell. it is flat and shiny. what is it?

 

[ophiura]

It is called the operculum. Consider it kinda like a manhole cover or door of sorts When the snail retracts, it covers the opening and protects the soft tissue, just like the shell does....and when the snail dies, the operculum is left, along with the shell.

 

[tiberius]

Have you ever pulled one off a rock or glass? There is a disk that closes behind them. I guess for protection. I have ordered them and had a couple die in my tank and new they were gone when I saw the disk floating through the water. A dreaded sign.

 

[ophiura]

Yeah, in some species it is pretty significant, calcareous and shell like (they even make them into jewelry) and in others it is much more flexible and thin and may be blown around.

 

[codyjp]

this one is very hard and is like his shell. so what would cause a snail to die?
Thanks for the quick response everybody!

 

[ophiura]

Several possibilities, but lets start with how long you've had it, what your specific parameters are, and if you've only had it a few weeks, how you acclimated it. In addition, any medications or additives, especially copper...or if you have any brass fittings in your system. Do you have other snails or inverts, and how are they?

 

[earlybird]

I've always thought that the operculum would be a good piece to attach a frag to.

 

[codyjp]

parameters all seem to be ok, the other half dozen snails are doing fine. It may have been a homicide commited by my hermits. It was a pretty big snail i picked up about 6 weeks ago and acclimated for several hours. do they die of old age? Thanks for all the help!

 

[fishrich]

All I know is that they smell real nice when they die ...

 

[topfins-mj]

if your snails fall on their backs they will die if not turned upside quickly. I also noticed that if left upside down, hermit crabs start to attack it as well and so kill it.
Snails just don't die that easy trust me.
I had to to recently smack a crab of my margarita snail the other day. It was a close call.