Conch ID

[Fcsteve777]

Anyone know what this lil guy is? Ive seen him on the rockwork and glass. Excuse the dirty glass please.

 

[pagojoe]

No, not from that pic. It's a juvenile something. The reddish foot is usually a bad sign.

Cheers,


Don

 

[Fcsteve777]

Ill keep an eye on it thanks.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

It's a whelk not a conch, they're carnivores and you need to pull it out of your tank.

 

[Fcsteve777]

Next time i see it itll be gone.

Thanks for the advice

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Glad to help, those guy's look a lot like nassarius snails and often get sold as such. The two dead giveaways are the mottled look of the snout and foot skin almost like a tattoo of sorts and there is a small shell covering the tail. Nassarius snails don't have either.

 

[Fcsteve777]

Oh I knew it wasn't a nassarius the shell is way different. It must've been a speck on my lr when I set the tank up a couple months back.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Yes the shells are a tad different but I was just letting you know the difference between the whelk and nassarius also so others will know the difference. It's a subtle one.

 

[Fcsteve777]

Thanks again

 

[pagojoe]

Actually Nassarius do have an operculum on the top of the foot. It's just usually smaller and more transparent than the ones on whelks and muricids. The mottle snout method is only about 50% accurate also. The "red foot" rule is fairly consistent, though. Other than a few cone snails, pretty much all of the ones with red animals eat other snails.




Don

 

[Netra]

columbelid snail

reef safe

 

[pagojoe]

Netra could be right, it could be a juvenile columbellid. I have never seen one with a reddish foot, but after looking at photos of a lot of animals, I found one variant of Euplica scripta that has a reddish-purple color to the top of the foot. It does look like it might have been grazing the glass in the pic, as I take a fourth look.


Don

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I agree Don that Netra could be right. Such subtle differences in them. However I would sump it anyway just to be safe.