FAQs about Marine Snail
Identification 7
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
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 18, Snail ID 19, Snail ID
20, Snail ID 21, Snail ID 22, Snail
ID 24, Snail ID 25, Snail ID 26, & Invertebrate ID, & Marine Snails 1, Marine Snails 2, Marine Snails 3, Snail Behavior, Snail Selection, Snail Compatibility, Snail Systems, Snail Feeding, Snail Disease, Snail Reproduction, Mollusks, Sea
Slugs, Abalone,
Tulips on my Organ Pipe Coral?
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Snail ID 3/28/07 Sorry. I forget to attach
the pics. These are the pictures. It's a bit blur. Hope you
don't mind. <Pics are blurry, but my guess would be same as
yours, a Cerithium.> <You're welcome. James
(Salty Dog)> |
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Snail ID - 3/27/07 Hello everyone. <Hey
Elaine, JustinN with you today.> Can you please tell
me what this is? <I'll give it a shot, for sure!> Sorry
the photo's are not good I am new to cameras. <No
worries> I found this thing in my small cube reef tank. I have
attached quite a few photos because he looks so different in shape
in 1 photo to another. Only way to describe him is he looks like a
slug with a hump and 2 antennas. On 1 photo he looks like a torpedo
shape but on the other he seems to have a slug looking appearance.
He is quite rough looking and stone in colour with a hint of green
on his back. Is he safe to leave in my reef tank or dose he need to
go? If he is safe what do I feed him on? Any advice is
much appreciated thanks for your time. Elaine <Say
hello to your new Stomatella varia snail, my friend! These are very
common hitchhikers on live rock, beneficial detritivores, happily
munching away on your wastes and algae! No supplemental feeding is
necessary, nor concern. He will be a perfect citizen, and may even
produce a few more friends! -JustinN> |
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Re: Snail ID 3/27/07 Justin thanks ever so
much for the reply I am so glad he can stay. By the way I think I
have 3 of them so hopefully they can all become buddies.
now I can get back to enjoying watching my tank instead of worrying
about these things. Ugly though they are. Thanks again
Elaine <Anytime, Elaine. This is what we're here for, and
we're glad to help! -JustinN> |
Re: A Strange Invader? Nah, Just Normal
Reproduction. -- 03/17/07 <Hi Deb! Mich with you
again.> Eggs? They certainly don't look like eggs, but I know
you're the expert - so I'll take your word for it! Guess I
thought of eggs as little round things, not a series of little lines in
a swirly pattern... go figure! :-) <Sometimes round,
sometimes not.> Thanks for your prompt reply, as usual! What would
us newbies do without you guys?? :-) <You're most
welcome. Glad you find us helpful. -Mich>
-Deb
What are these? Worm Snails / Vermetid
Snails 3/7/07 Hello, <Hi Cindy, Mich here.>
My husband and I have inherited a 30-gallon salt water aquarium.
<Welcome to the briny world.> Being beginners, we are making
our best effort to do this right and your site has been very
helpful. <Glad to hear this. I would also recommend a
book by Robert M. Fenner titled "The Conscientious Marine
Aquarist. It is an excellent book, especially for a
beginner, but belongs on the shelf of every saltwater hobbyist, in
my opinion.> We have these growths all
over the living rock and coral, they are circular and seem to have
a semi hard coating or shell. Some are very dark in color and
others are light brown, and some have a portion that grows out. I
have looked and searched and can't seem to find anything that
matches. Do you know what they are and will they do any harm ?
<Yes they are actually sessile snails, commonly called worm
snails or Vermetid snails. They are beneficial filter
feeders, but be careful, as their calcareous tubes can be quite
sharp and cause painful punctures or cuts when brushed up
against.> Thank You Very Much for Your Time, <You are very
welcome, my pleasure to serve. Mich> Cindy Boyd |
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Snail ID: Possibly Sundial snail (Heliacus
sp.) 3/3/07 Good Afternoon, <Good Morning I
guess! Mich here.> While having coffee this morning I
observed a moving speck, which turns out to be a snail. <What
good eye you must have!> At present my aquarium houses two
Astraea and three Turbos. Also there have been no recent additions
in the last three months to account for recent hitchhiking. The
shell on which the snail is perched is app. 1"x1 1/2" to
give some idea of scale. Thanks in advance for any information,
<Hmm, Is a bit small, but does look an awful lot like a Heliacus
snail, which are predatory on Zoanthids and typically
nocturnal. Do you have any Zoanthids in your system that
are experiencing any difficulty? See this page, next to
the penny: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polypdisfaqs.htm Heliacus
snails have a small pagoda shaped operculum (trap door) this may
help with identification. Hopefully is not a Sundial
snail (Heliacus sp.)! -Mich> Jane |
Re: snail id: Possibly Sundial snail (Heliacus
sp.) 3/4/07 Mich and crew, <Hi Jane! Mich with
you again.> Thank you for the link to the image--the wee
bugger in my tank bears a striking resemblance to the Heliacus.
<Not good.> Unfortunately, due to its small size and my
lack of x-ray vision, the operculum was/is too small to
see. <Magnifying glass?> Difficulty with
Zoanthids is now past tense--little left but a rock and red
stubs. <Uh oh!> But, thanks to you, I can see the
light--now if I can only see the snail(s) again... <Hee!>
Regards to all, <And to you and
yours. -Mich>
Jane
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Identification question 3/25/06 Good
Afternoon Crew, Please could you offer me an opinion as to what my
latest 'clean up crew' purchase is? It was sold as a
'Red Sand Sifting Conch', but doesn't look like the
ones in a Marine World article this month as the shell is more
pointed. After looking around the old FAQs and info pages, Strombus
alatus, the strangely named 'Florida fighting conch' looks
the best match - but what do you think. <This is almost
assuredly what this is> Apologies for the slightly bleached out
pictures. Thank you in advance. Bob Mehen, Cornwall, England
<"What's in a name?" Bob Fenner> |
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Trouble ID'ing snail and what is it doing exactly?
3/4/06 One of the members of my site has this snail.
I think it may be a type of Mitra species. <Does look
like...> I'm trying to get a positive ID. <Okay... Mitra
mitra... common, and big in HI> Also, what exactly is it doing?
<Eating or regurgitating a Polychaete worm... the bristles
knocked off... looks like more of the latter> I've seen this
snail in a normal appearance with a normal foot, but what is this
behavior below. Once again, thanks for a great site to help us
fellow enthusiasts. I've attached the 4 pictures, seen pasted
below, to be sure you receive them. Steve
<Thanks. Bob Fenner> |
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An id of snail please... The Amazing Mollusk
Kreskin! 2/24/06 Hey hey! <For horses, horses>
Wait until you hear this! I went to a local LFS today not my regular
LFS) to have a look at his livestock. He had one tank with about 8
assorted butterflies in it. 2 of the butterflies (beautiful ones which
I had never seen before) were cowering in the corner and not moving.
<Very common for the "miscellaneous", "assorted"
category...> There was a Bannerfish picking at one of the cowering
b's and he was not even flinching. <A "goner">
Every one of the butterflies, except the cowering ones, were shaking
incessantly. Almost like convulsions. <Trouble> In another tank,
he had a magnificent 10 inch Queen Angel which was on the verge of
death swimming upside down and hitting the glass. <How do such folks
stay in business?> I asked a salesperson to come over because I
wanted to buy a court jester goby which appeared very healthy. <I
hope you were court jestering... I would make like splitsville from
such shops> When he came over I asked about the sick fish and he
said that it was because they hadn't had time to change the water!!
I have a question regarding a snail in my tank which came with the LR.
It has a diamond shaped shell and it doesn't appear to have any
mouth apart from a small trunk protruding out from the front of the
shell. What does this one eat? <... you're still jestering?
Please see WWM re Gastropod IDs: http://wetwebmedia.com/marinvind1.htm
No way to tell what you're referring to w/o an image. Bob
Fenner>
Re: id of snail please - 02/25/06 You're
funny! I can't find anything in all those FAQs and every time I
type what I want in the Google search-well it's like trying to find
a needle in a haystack to get what I want. The volume of info is too
massive for a specific question. <... your question is not
specific...> Besides, it would have taken you less words to write
"I think this snail eats ............." , than to direct me
to that enormous amount of info. I just want to know what it is eating
through that trunk thing. <... have no idea... how would anyone know
with the information presented? Again, please send along a
photograph... Bob Fenner>
The Incredible (Mr.) Limpet 2/24/06 I've
recently noticed this small oval something in my 55 gal reef
tank. It is green in color and comes to a point in the
center, almost like a mountain. It typically stays in
the same spot, but I recently noticed it moving
about. I've looked over your website to try to find
something that looks similar, but no luck. Any help would be
appreciated. <An archaeogastropod... of benefit. Bob
Fenner> |
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Snail id 2/8/06 I have a snail Id question. I
don't have a pic because my digital camera apparently sucks for
taking pics of stuff in my aquarium. <?> These appear to be
carnivorous snails, I noticed them a couple of weeks ago on the glass
and live rock and saw them again tonight feasting on the corpse of an
unidentified species of hermit crab. They are about the size of a grain
of rice (a couple are a bit bigger), they have oblong cigar shaped
shells that are tan/white striped. They have a proboscis and small
antennae, they almost remind me of a small Nassarius but the shells are
definitely not the same shape or color. They don't appear to be
attacking living organisms. Do you have any idea what this might
be? I've counted 3 or 4 of them so far( their numbers
do not seem to be increasing). Thanks in advance for your always
helpful advice. <Please see here: http://www.google.com/custom?q=Snail+id+marine&sitesearch=wetwebmedia.com
Snail ID 2/3/06 Hello Crew, <Roger>
I'm on your website every day -- several times a day, in fact
-- hungry to learn more about the new and interesting little
creatures I find crawling, swimming, jumping, popping, and sliding
around my our newly cycled 150. I'm going to have to pick up
'The Conscientious Aquarist' from
somewhere 'sounds like an exceptionally great resource to
have on hand. <Is worthwhile... if I don't (and don't)
mind stating so myself> My question is regarding a little
stowaway snail I found last night as I was placing new some live
rock with some lovely softies attached. I'd really like to know
what he is. He is about ¼' from tip to tip; his
picture is attached. Currently he's still in QT, until I know
more about him. Hopefully he's benign, and not some species of
bivalve killer because he certainly is beautiful (the picture
hardly does him justice), and we would like to put some
captive-bred (Tridacna spp.) clams in the live sand in the near
future. <Mmm, I would remove this animal... perhaps a member of
the Fasciolariidae...: http://www.google.com/custom?q=tulip+snail+family&sitesearch=wetwebmedia.com
Too likely to be predaceous here> Tank parameters: Size: 150
gallons XH (LWH: 48' x 24' x 30') Live Rock: 80 lb (so
far); intend to reach about 150 lbs total. Lighting: 2 x 250W Metal
Halide, 4 x 96W Actinic, 4 LED 'moon lights' on
Dawn/Midday/Dusk cycle -- 2 hours dawn/dusk; 9 hour midday.
Filtration: Coralife 220 SuperSkimmer Circulation: 3 x MaxiJet 1200
on a wave timer Specific Gravity: 1.023 Temp: 76F (early morning)
-- 79F (when metal halides shut down) dKH: 9 pH: 8.2 Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0 Ammonia/Ammonium: 0 Inhabitants: 4 hermit crabs 6 Astrea
Snails 1 Orange Skunk Clown 4 Green Chromis 1 (as yet unseen)
Pistol Shrimp or Mantis 'I'm going to put out some
food and watch this weekend to hopefully confirm an ID. 1 unknown
banded 'telescoping' worm that lives under one of the rocks
<Heee! Likely harmless... Ophiuroid> 4 colonies of Green Star
Polyps (Pachyclavularia sp) 1 colony of Zoanthids 2 Anthelia
colonies 1 Colt (Alcyonium sp.) 2 Mushroom colonies (Discosoma sp.)
Thanks,
Rog
<Bob Fenner> |
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Stomatella Snail? - 02/03/06 I spotted a creature
that has a shell shaped like what are called turkey wing
Arca. It is a snail with what looks like a bivalve
shell. The creature is about 0.5 inch long and about 0.25
from foot to the highest point off substrate. The shell is
patterned and structured like the turkey wing shell but this creature
is mobile. It was on the glass last night grazing in a patch
of algae. Color was somewhat brown somewhat darker than one
of my Astrea snails. Foot was thin and very
white. Any ideas? <<Likely this is a Stomatella snail,
a Google search re will easily confirm. These are beneficial
snails, and about as "reef safe" as snails
get. Regards, EricR>>
Questionable snail... 1/25/06 Hey
everyone, <Chris> Thank you for spending your valuable down
time answering questions for the masses. Yesterday I
noticed a strange looking snail in my 130 gal reef. I
have attached a couple pics, but as the bigger snail of the 2 is
only 1/2" long it is a difficult shot. The shells
look like a web pattern...rather, there are little holes all over
the shell, making it look like a web, or a net. It looks
like the snail deposits little dots of calcium, etc. to make each
successive layer around the shell. (did that make any
sense?) Anyway, thanks again for the great site, and for
spending your free-time helping others. Have a great day! -Chris
<Mmm, looks like a member of the Family Fasciolariidae... See
the Net re. Bob Fenner> |
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Snail Id 1/16/06 Hi, My reef tank is recently
having a population explosion of these guys. They are about 1-2mm
across. Can you help me to id them? Are they sun dials? <Mmm,
can't tell if this is a Neritid, Turbinid or torched from the
one pic (need to show obverse, the other side, as well)... but if
all stay small as you state, I would guess the first family. Bob
Fenner> Thanks.
Chee Thong |
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Snail ID - Look For Lynn - Webmail Problems - 01/09/2005
I was told you are good at IDs on snails. <Mm,
*I'm* not, but I know who is. The reason I've
received this email is because our webmail system has delivered
your email to us sans the "tray" that allows us the
ability to respond. For some completely unknown and
bizarre reason, my particular system is able to still show this
tray, thus, I'm the one to respond to your
email. The bad part, here, is that I'm not so
"up" on marine snails. However, in our forums
(WetWebFotos.com), there is a user named "Lynn" who is
fabulous at IDing odd things - I heartily encourage you to join our
forums and start a thread in the Marine Invertebrates
section. Lynn typically has some good links up her
sleeves to help you find the ID of your mystery critter.> I have
had no luck on Reef Central. Here it is: <Excellent
photos, my friend.> Thanks, -Gabriel <All the best
to you, -Sabrina> |
Two lips on
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Unidentifiable snail and conch - 01/03/2006 Hi, I have
received two different types of Gastropods that I have no idea what
they really are. The common name for them here in Canada... are:
lipstick conch, which after many hours of searching the net, came up
with this: Conomurex luhuanus. Is this a "reef" safe and
invertebrate safe species? <This Strombid rates highly on "reef
safeness"> I have a 90 gal tank. 75lbs LR and 3" sand bed.
The other one is an Orange spotted sand snail. It's quite large -
3" long. I found a pic of it on your site: You didn't seem to
know what it was from this pic, but I'm hoping you've got more
info as of today :-) (ever hopeful...) <Mmm, your pix, description
didn't come through... Have no idea what you're referring
to> thanks so much for you wonderful people especially helping us
"newbies" out. all the best in this new year, Marc <Bob
Fenner>
Nassarius Snail? - 12/06/05 Hello, <<Howdy>> I
have had my 55 gallon saltwater tank now for over 3 years and I
haven't added any live rock or anything to the tank in over a year
and a half. Today I noticed two small snails (about 3/4 of an inch
long) with a cone style shell and what looks like a long
"nose" protruding from between their tiny antennae. They are
milky white in color and the shell is the same. They move fairly
quickly...much faster than the snails that I have in the tank
(Margarita and Astrea). What are these little guys? Thanks in advance!
Dave <<From your description they sound like a species of
Nassarius snail. Try doing a keyword search re same on our web site and
beyond. regards, EricR>>
Unidentified snail 11/28/05 Dear WWM team,
<Gary, did not find picture attached. If you have Kodak software, it
is easy to resize pictures for email. If so, I can tell you how to do
it. James (Salty Dog)> Firstly thank you for response to my last
question about three weeks ago regarding some worms under my magnet. My
mind was put to rest. However can you guy's assist in identifying
another mystery introduction a snail to my FOWLR system? I have checked
the pictures on both the Marine Snail pages and Snail ID pages to no
avail. Also I could not find it in my 'Marine Invertebrates'
guide. Although I don't think this is a Cone shell I would just
like to be on the safe side! It arrived on live rock. It started off as
a tiny spec but has grown over the months to it's current size
approximately 5mm wide by 10mm in length (see attached picture to
assist with the ID. I am not very good with reducing pictures in
respect of kilobytes so I apologize in advance) but did crop it to get
in close. It is white in colour with black broken lines running down
it's length. Most of it's time is spent tucked out of sight. It
is very attractive and if not going to cause injury to my fish or me
then I would like to keep it. Many thanks for your help with this
query and for the magnificent service you provide. Without question a
superb site. Kind regards from a cold London. Gary Kreeger
Re: Unidentified Snail/ earlier e-mail sent without pic
11/28/05 Dear WWM Whoops, I forgot to add the picture after all
that! <Gary, based on the blurry picture I'd have to say
it is probably a Cerith snail which are reef safe. James (Salty
Dog)> Sorry <No problems but do learn to downsize as it
takes time to download a file of this size (especially for us souls who
are using phone modems) and also takes up unnecessary room on our
system. James (Salty Dog)> Gary Kreeger London
Re: Unidentified Snail/ reply 11/29/05 Dear James
(Salty Dog) <Gary> Thank you for your reply and good news that I
will not have to turf the little fellow out. I appreciate the Kodak
software suggestion and offer of help if I need it. I do have that
software so will try and work it out first, then if have problems can
come to you. <Keep in mind what I said..."appears to
be", being the pic has a lack of detail. I'll help you out
anyway in the resizing. Right click the pic you want to resize, click
edit, click save as, click resize and select best for web, create a
folder in same window such as "marine pics", save pic in that
folder. When attaching the pic, just go to that file and select. James
(Salty Dog)> Thanks again. <You're welcome>
Kind
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