Conch ID

[Thepopo]

Hi guys! I recently bought a acro colony that came with quite a few hitchhikers. Among the various acro crabs it seems a conch was hiding there as well. How can I tell what kind of conch it is? It is only about a 1/4 of an inch long and the shell seems to be all white so far.

 

[greenbean36191]

It's probably not a conch, but without a picture of the snail there's no way to identify it.

 

[Thepopo]

no I am sure it is a conch. Spiral shell, it even has the spikes queen conch have. I was wondering how to tell a queen conch apart from other conches? is it the spikes? Cuz he sure has those. Ill try to take a picture of him but he is so damn tiny hehehe

 

[pagojoe]

As Mike says, it's almost certainly not a conch. Many of the tiny juvie strombids would look alike, and not too much like an adult. Chances are better that it's a Cronia or Drupella or some other muricid (i.e., a predatory snail) if it has spikes like a miniature conch. You really will need a pic to get an accurate ID, though.

Cheers,



Don

 

[Thepopo]

ok i will try to get a pic of him tonight.

 

[Thepopo]

Ok here he is! He is tiny so its hell trying to get a good contrast shot of him.

 

[pagojoe]

That looks to be a juvenile Drupella cornus, which is a coral eater. The shell outline changes a bit as they become adults, but yours looks pretty typical for a juvenile. They average about an inch long when they are fully grown, although a monster might be around two inches.

Cheers,



Don

 

[Thepopo]

ugh, I hate killing predators 8(. Thx for the ID