do nassarius snails eat acros?

[CTaylor]

Hi
I just saw a nassarius snail on an acropora branch (it's a live branch). It didn't fall on the branch, it was just on it.

** Is it eating the slime of the acro? I took it off as soon as I saw it, the area it was on is alive it seems still. Should i get rid of all my nassarius?

I dont have a lot of sand in the tank, over half is bare, a small area about 6x8" is 2" sand. The rest maybe 1/4 ". I feed quite a bit, but still there's not a lot of place for food to get stuck, I also have a good population of hermits.

TY

 

[Uncle99]

I have kept nasarrius snails for decades, the best snail ever for sand.
I have never seen them on rocks or corals, always sand, cause they dig themselves into the sand with just the sensor showing, some like the glass at night.

Are you sure it's Nassarius, there are similar looking ones, maybe a pic?

Sometimes inhabitants behave strangely when food is scarce.

You need at least a 1" sand bed for these to be at home.

 

[xtremeyolks]

I've never seen my nassarius snails leave the sandbed...

 

[cody6766]

I've seen mine climb the glass when food hits the water...don't think I've ever seen one climb a rock at any point. I've had nassarius snails since my first tank in 2007. Is your acro missing any tissue after the snail moved on? If not, it was probably an odd coincidence or a drunk snail.

 

[sfdan]

My nassarius snails crawl on the sand, the glass, get stuck in my powerheads, crawl on rocks, crawl on corals. They are looking for detritus. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[gprdypoo04]

Yeah mine too

 

[CTaylor]

The area was white, but didnt seem totally dead where I took the snail off. It just didnt look good. I saw the snail on the same coral again, this time snail is gone. It clearly likes this coral. Same result as far as how the area looks, just a larger area now, which totally became skeleton a few days later.

**I attached a pic. The snail is pretty big, about 3/4 inch.

 

[Sk8r]

True nassarius tend to stay subsand except when food is freshly provided. Nassarius look like their cousins the whelks, which are carnivores, and which are sometimes bought by mistake. I'm very suspicious of nassarius that don't stay sub-sand and are out crawling on corals.

 

[CTaylor]

True nassarius tend to stay subsand except when food is freshly provided. Nassarius look like their cousins the whelks, which are carnivores, and which are sometimes bought by mistake. I'm very suspicious of nassarius that don't stay sub-sand and are out crawling on corals.

Hi
It was the best pic I could get of it as when it was in that container it didnt have it's periscope thingy . It might not be a nassarius, you're right, it just happens to be the same shape. I attached the only other 'best' pic i could take. All you can see is the shape of the shell and the spiral ridge lines.

 

[Sk8r]

Google 'Whelk versus Nassarius.'