FAQs about Marine Snail
Identification 18
Related Articles: Gastropods, Sea Slugs, Mollusks, Abalone,
Related FAQs: Snail ID
1, Snail ID 2, Snail ID 3, Snail
ID 4, Snail ID 5, Snail ID 6, Snail
ID 7, Snail ID 8, Snail ID 9, Snail ID
10, Snail ID 11, Snail ID 12, Snail
ID 13, Snail ID 14, Snail ID 15, Snail ID
16, Snail ID 17, Snail ID 19, Snail ID
20, Snail ID 21, Snail ID 22, Snail
ID 23, Snail ID 24, Snail ID 25, Snail
ID 26, & Marine Snails 1,
Marine Snails 2, Marine Snails 3, Invertebrate ID, Snail Behavior, Snail Selection, Snail Compatibility, Snail Systems, Snail Feeding, Snail Disease, Snail Reproduction, Mollusks, Sea
Slugs, Abalone,
|
|
Id of hitchhiker 1/3/09 I have been keeping
saltwater tank's for almost four years now. After I started I
found this great site. Any problems have been taking care of
thanks to you. My tank's are 75 gals reef , 55 gal seahorse ,
5 gal dwarf seahorse . All test show 0 except for nitrates that
are about 20 . I found this about two years ago .It was so small
that I had to use a magnify glass to see what it looked like .It
is now about 1inch long the half shell on top that is . I have
looked at slugs ,snails , and anything else I could think of but
could not find . Thank you and happy new year. <Looks like a
juvenile Haliotis sp. gastropod of some sort, the sea snails
commonly called "abalones" or "ear-shells".
What you should see is that the shell is flat like a dish but
coils over to one side when viewed from above, and on the side
away from the coil you'll see a row of small openings running
from the helix all the way to the front of the shell. Your photo
is of the side with the coil, so I can't see those openings.
Adult Haliotis spp. at least are almost entirely herbivorous,
feeding on different types of green and red algae. Since yours is
growing and is unlikely to be doing any harm to your other marine
life, I think you can sit back and enjoy this rather fascinating
snail. For more, see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/abalones.htm Cheers, Neale.>
<<Mmm, is a Trochid... that looks like, is most often
listed as a limpet... likely of the genus Stomatella. Please read
here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/MolluscPIX/Gastropods/Prosobranch%20PIX/Limpets%20Scutus/LimpetF1.htm
BobF>>
|
|
More re: Id of hitchhiker
1/3/09 Hi Bob. You may well be correct. The shell looked
distinctly asymmetrical to me, hence plumping for Haliotis. I
wasn't aware that there were any flat shelled Trochids, but
Stomatella does indeed appear to be one such beast. Obviously a
view from the side away from the spiral would have show (or not)
the gill openings, and clinched the deal! Cheers, Neale.>
"<<Mmm, is a Trochid... that looks like, is most often
listed as a limpet... likely of the genus Stomatella. Please read
here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/MolluscPIX/Gastropods/Prosobranch%20PIX/Limpets%20Scutus/LimpetF1.htm
BobF>>" <Another point of divergence, asking if you
will... For so many organisms, groups we deal with... the use of
the more "common" names and higher tax. for findings
sake... Here, should I/we put Stomatella "in" with the
Trochidae, or place (as I have) with the Limpets... as they are
commonly "found" in hobby lit.? B>
Re: More re: Id of hitchhiker
1/3/09 Thank you for the id . I first thought it was an
Abalone but as it did not have holes along the side . I never
thought to look at Limpets cause I only heard of keyhole limpets
. As this did not have a hole on top . After looking over your
Limpets page and doing a Google search on them . I do have a
Limpet . thanks for everything and this great site . <Mmm,
again... this is actually a Snail... a member of the family
Trochidae... Is called a limpet due to its flattened appearance I
guess. Cheers! BobF>
|
Loud gulf toadfish Opsanus beta 12/13/08
Hello, my name is Desha. I have a 6-month-old, 75 gallon
saltwater tank that I have stocked exclusively with finds that I
have acquired, mainly by catching them in my cast net, from the
pier half a mile from my house on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.
<Neat!> I have done lots and lots of research in the past 9
months or so and have very often found information on your site
that I could find nowhere else. Thank you guys for that.
Hopefully you can find the time to answer a couple of questions
for me. I am attaching pictures that may be useful. Please let me
know if you have any problems with the attachments or if perhaps
I could take a picture from a different angle or something that
may help. <Okay> The pride and joy of my tank is my 8-inch
long gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta. I also have an amazing anemone
that was caught on my pier by a friend of mine. It is attached to
a hermit crab shell. (He brought it to me saying what an amazing
soft shell hermit crab he had found but when it was put in the
water the anemone opened and revealed the reason for the
"soft shell." The crab had only 1 eye and died within
12 hours but the anemone seems to be well and happy.) I also have
a striped hermit crab, 2 small Popeye mullets, a few grass shrimp
and half a dozen snails. Until a couple of weeks ago, I also had
a beautiful little sea robin but he fell victim to the toadfish.
<Are "big eaters"> My first question is about the
snails. Three nights ago they began laying eggs on my aquarium
glass and have been doing this off and on ever since. The thing
is, I have no idea what kind of snails these are and none of the
pictures that I have found of snail eggs look like mine. They
look a little like short, thick, white hairs growing on the
grass. I would like to figure out the gestation period and the
likelihood that I will have little snail babies soon and whether
I will need to provide some sort of special food if they do
hatch. Perhaps you know some of these things or can give me a bit
of a clue as to what kind of snail this is so that I can do some
further research. <Mmm, would like some other pix to
compare... Southern Oyster Drills (Stramonita haemastoma)> My
other question involves my toadfish. For about a week now I have
been hearing a loud noise from the aquarium at all hours of the
day and night. It is literally loud enough that it wakes me up.
It sounds like a cell phone vibrating in a dresser drawer. At
first I thought it was a powerhead malfunctioning and finally
have realized is my fish. I have heard the sound of the toadfish
played online and I am certain it is him but I am surprised. I
was aware that the toadfish made sounds but I had been under the
impression that it was unlikely for one to vocalize in captivity.
Is this uncommon? <Not uncommon> Also, as I understand it,
this is a mating call. So does he need a mate? <Mmm, not
really... Likely to fight in too small a space> Will he ever
give up and quit calling for one? He calls every 5 to 25 minutes
around the clock. >Heeee! Are loud for sure< Thank you guys
for everything. You have a wonderful site. Thanks again, Desha
<Thank you for sharing your experiences, commentary. Bob
Fenner>
|
|
Identify- Fleshy Slug AKA Fleshy Limpet
10/22/08 Hello crew... <Hello Jessy here> I am
baffled by this ...shall I say....shell-less slug?? It moves all
over the tank sometimes on the glass but usually on the rockwork.
The first picture is very grainy but I wanted you to see it from
the front also and this was the best I had. Thanks in advance for
the help. <Donna, by my estimation that is a fleshy limpet.
See here for further ID
http://www.melevsreef.com/id/fleshy_limpet.html> Regards,
Donna
<Regards, Jessy>
|
|
Critter Ids -- 10/09/08 Good Afternoon,
<Good morning.> I have just a few questions that I cant
seem to find an answer to. First all the pertinent info, the tank
is 90 gal with 2-250w 14k HQI bulbs and 4 65w actinic CF. with a
30 gal sump. The water parameters are as follows. Salinity-1.024,
Ammonia-0, Nitrate-0, Nitrite-0, Phosphate-0, Alk-8, Cal-480,
Temp 77 day 75 night. Okay here are the questions I recently
re-arranged some rock to provide better water circulation and I
found this weird spiky egg looking thing. It is approx.
2'' in a egg shape. Its kind of hard to see the little
spikes in the pic but they are there. <A sponge. See here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/spongeidfaq2.htm and the other
FAQs.> The other "thing" in question is this little
tube like worm growing on the side of my hammer coral. It appears
to be a pinkish tube with a black worm inside. It sends out a
long string of mucus which traps stuff then sucks it back in. I
read the other post on this but there were no pics. The pic that
I have is not the best as I would have to disassemble quite a bit
to get a great pic of it but if you look in between the two heads
you will see the little black creature with the two
"pincher's?" and the mucus trail. <A Vermetid
snail (worm snail, a sessile gastropod). Another harmless animal,
only in few cases with thousands of individuals they apparently
somewhat irritated corals with their mucus nets See
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/snailidfaq7.htm and do a WWM/Net
search on Vermetid.> Just curious if either of these little
creatures are anything to be worried about? <Absolutely
harmless. Enjoy them.> Thxs, Kris. <Welcome. Marco.>
<<Spot on, as usual Marco. RMF>>
|
|
|
|