Snail ID Please....

rhagemann

rhagemann

Member
My tank has recently become a haven for these little 1/4" buggers. I noticed one of my Candy Cane (Trumpet) Corals had 5 or 6 heads eaten away today and as I pulled it from the tank, there were three of these guys stuck on the eaten areas. I don't know if they are resonsible or just happened to be there after it had happened.
Any help is greatly appreciated...


 
apos

apos

Member
If they were really munching, my guess is whelks, though the shells look more like baby conches, and no siphons are visible in any of these shots (whelks have a little siphon that sticks up like nassarius: in fact, nassarius are a type of whelk, and the only NON predatory kind, I believe).
Whelks are definately not reef safe if so, though more because they attack other snails and clams than corals (never heard of them going after corals). How did they get in the tank: as hitchhikers?
However, keep in mind that often its hard to tell who killed and who is merely eating the dying or dead. The former is bad, but the latter is actually very desirable, so its good not to mistake one for the other, and dump out critters that are only trying to clean up a mess something else caused. :)
 
rhagemann

rhagemann

Member
Thanks Apos. It's entirely possible they were just eating the dead coral. I mostly see them on LR and the glass. TONS of them on the refugium/sump too.
I'll keep a closer eye on them and do a little research on Whelks.
Thanks again for the info
 
apos

apos

Member
The very fact that they are apparently successfully reproducing in your tank, at least as far as I can tell, gives me pause. I'm not aware of any "good" snail other than stromas (which these are very obviously not) that is successful at amassing such numbers naturally (which sort of sucks: why does all the GOOD stuff fail to reproduce, but all the BAD stuff seems to have such an easy time!).
Again, the only reason I'm not jumping at "whelk" is that there is no siphon visible. That could be because you have them out of the water and they've retracted them. Do you have any in water shots where their heads and feet are out?
 
rhagemann

rhagemann

Member
I don't have any pics of them in water.....yet....but I will, and will try to get them posted on here later this evening. Thanks again...
 
naikaze

naikaze

New Member
I don't think they're Whelks. They look more like Conchs. They were probably eating the dead coral, like Apos said.
 
apos

apos

Member
Definately leaning in the direction of conch-like species but...
See here:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/rs/index.php
I would say that this looks like a Columbellids snail. And, lo and behold, according to this article, some species of them reproduce well in tanks!
The bad news is that it says not much is known about them, which would include whether or not they are truly reef safe.
 
rhagemann

rhagemann

Member
Really good info Apos. After reading the link and even links on that page, I feel a alittle better about them. Also agree with you, that these appear to be Columbellids. "Reproduce well in tanks" .....LOL....if you only knew! I'd estimate that there are close to 200 of them in the tank, fuge, & sump. And that's in addition to the robust clean up crew I already have. I do have a cpl of fighting conch's but they've been perfect janitors.
Thanks again for your help and steering me in the right direction.
 
rhagemann

rhagemann

Member
Another reefer provided some additional info from another forum. Thought I'd add it in case anyone else is interested...
"...I believe all of those are the same columbellid species, either Euplica varians or Euplica scripta. In either case, your snails belong to one of the species associated with sea grass (because I've often collected them there), and they are considered to be reef safe. The "Seashells of NSW" website says this:
"Columbellids are active, crawling snails that live in a variety of habitats. The majority of species live on hard substrates, crawling on the underside of stones or on algae, but some species crawl in sand in seagrass beds. They are unusual among advanced gastropods in that a few species include both plant and animal material in their diets. Species that live on seagrass are grazers, consuming the diatoms, sponges and other animal life forms on the seagrass fronds, while also consuming the plant material. Carnivorous species are known to include other molluscs, polychaete worms, crustaceans and ascidians in their diet."
http://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Columbe...idae_intro.htm
 
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