Can astrea's live out of their shell?

[amheck]

I have a slug in my tank, for lack of a better word. But...the strange thing is, it looks like an astrea snail without it's shell. Is has the 2 tenticles and has the mouth the same.

Is this a shell-less astrea or something else?

 

[d4a2n0k]

Thats not an Astrea. I cant remember the name right now, Im sure someone will chime in. It probably hitched a ride on your live rock. They are beneficial, that I do know.

 

[hagfish]

stomatella snail.

I think they have a shell actually, it's just hard to tell the difference between the shell and the body.

 

[amheck]

interesting. Thanks. The mouth, when looking at them thru the glass watching them graze, looked almost the same. That's why I thought astrea.

It's pretty fun to watch. The snail will raise up, only attached by the back part, and look around for somewhere else to crawl. Something like a 4 legged animal going up on 2 and moving around.

 

[Amphiprion]

First, to answer your question, no-not for long. Yes, this is a Stomatella snail. They are quite beneficial in that they eat algae and reproduce easily. It is easy to confuse the foot/mouth region with an Astrea, since it looks the same (which is because they are actually in the same family as Astrea, Turbo, and Trochus grazer snails.