Can you id this snail?

[Fanof49ASU]

It's super small.....that's a pencil lead next to him.

 

[Ebay Fish]

That is a type of Heliacus Snail, some are sometimes known to eat zoanthids. Spanish Hogfish seem to eat them.
----Sean

 

[Fanof49ASU]

Great......he's in my zoa tank.

Are spanish hogfish nano friendly.....in a 5 gallon kind of way?

 

[Fanof49ASU]

After looking up the name, I found a pic of it. I'm not sure they are the same.....what do you think?

 

[Ebay Fish]

Heliacus is the genus of this snail, but there are several different species. the picture you have found is of the dreaded "sun dial" snail (also a type of heliacus).
----Sean

 

[Scucci]

I wouldn't say you have to kill them, I have them in my tank (about 10 of them actually... so far). I just keep an eye on them... a little hard to do since they don't do any moving till the lights are out, but I check in with a flash light and I've not seen any damage. It would be pretty easy to tell since my zoas are just little pieces... 1-4 polyps or so for each variety so any damage would be easy to notice.

Then again, I'm one of those live and let live type of people... so I have a hard time killing anything like that. If you want to get rid of them, bring 'em to the meeting tomorrow and I'll take them off your hands.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

It looks more like Collonista snail to me.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1136134

Take a look at its opeculum (lid). Sun dial snails have large conical ones. You cannot miss it.

I have a bunch of babies in my 120. They are harmless.

Tomoko

 

[gflat65]

Yeah, I think those are a mistaken look alike of the sundail. Could be wrong...

 

[SRT80]

yea, I say collonista. I made a post back around the frag swap last year where I had some hitchhike on a coral. Others did too. I usually only see them at night on the glass. Hasn't harmed anything in my tank. I actually had a sundial when I first setup my tank 2 years ago. Came on some zoas and there is a big diference. You would know.

Steve

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Take a look at their conical operculum of the sundail snail in this link:

http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=489

See the little dimple in the center of the operculum of collonista snails in this picture?

Tomoko