Cowrie ID??

[_K_E_P_]

There isn't much of a quarantine procedure on my tank.
So while shifting some corals round today I found this guy in my frogspawn.

Its about 5cm long, haven't a clue what it would have come on. I'm sure I would have seen it at this size.

It some sort of Cowry snail, but I don't know much about them.
Are they reef safe?

Its in a container until I can determine its future :?

 

[israelnajar]

Reef safe, algae eaters.

 

[pagojoe]

This is a slightly subadult Cypraea (Monetaria) caputserpentis, or Snakehead Cowry. I suspect the magnification of the water may have made you overestimate his size, since they only rarely get over about 40mm, and average size is around 30mm or a bit larger. This one is near enough to adulthood that it won't grow any more in length, although it will thicken and become more calloused, assuming it gets enough to eat.

These cowries are small enough that they usually aren't much of a problem in a reef tank, and they do primarily eat algae. This particular species spends a lot of time out of the water grazing on rocks at low tide, and normally lives in rough, highly-aerated water, so don't be surprised if it spends a lot of time near your aeration source or above the waterline of your tank. Several people on ReefCentral have kept these successfully, I hope you'll be able to do the same.

http://www.gastropods.com/4/Shell_44.html

Cheers,



Don