Do Naussarius snails eat clams
- Thread starter danfrith
- Start date
quicksilverq
New member
yep has to be dead or almost dead for them to clean up the mess.
quicksilverq
New member
Are you sure they were not welks??? I have had clams that were stressed for weeks and nothing went near them with over 100+ hermits Numberous shrimp and 20+ nassarius they should of eat it from what your telling me.
pagojoe
Team RC
Yes, I'm sure. All the cases I'm aware of involved either Nassarius arcularius or Nassarius coronatus. I personally kept about 20 different species of Nassarius over a period of a few years, and watched their behavior. If I had been feeding dead shrimp, and threw in a live one, the Nassarius would swarm it and kill it. I have no doubt that the shrimp was producing stress chemicals that the snails took as an invitation to dinner. I suspect this is what happens when new clams are introduced to a tank...they may smell like dinner if they are stressed. Even after they are in the tank, if a fish or shrimp picks at the clam, even that may be enough to make the clam stressed, setting it up to be killed by the Nassarius or other scavenging snails in the tank.
Cheers,
Don
Cheers,
Don
quicksilverq
New member
you just might be on to something.
Aren't the nassarius snails commonly sold in the hobby nassarius vibex? They would not attack a live clam. If danfrith purchased a vibex - then in my opinion it's unlikely to be the culprit. Like an NFL referee who catches the "retaliator", I'm betting danfrith found the snail doing it's job - cleaning up. The question remains though what actually caused the demise of the clam.
Or are you saying that since two species of nassarius show inclinations of attacking healthy but stressed clams - that therefore it's possible that other species (vibex/obsoleta) would as well?
It may just all be semantics since I'm not sure how one defines "stressed and healthy" versus "stressed and dying".
Finally - like a4twenty - I'd like to see what snails danfrith has - and for that matter, what fish and clean up crew. For all we know there's half a dozen fat horseshoe crabs in there...
Or are you saying that since two species of nassarius show inclinations of attacking healthy but stressed clams - that therefore it's possible that other species (vibex/obsoleta) would as well?
It may just all be semantics since I'm not sure how one defines "stressed and healthy" versus "stressed and dying".
Finally - like a4twenty - I'd like to see what snails danfrith has - and for that matter, what fish and clean up crew. For all we know there's half a dozen fat horseshoe crabs in there...
pagojoe
Team RC
The question is really this: How does a Nassarius know something is dead or dying? They aren't super-psychic little reef residents like some of their proponents want to believe. I keep seeing people make blanket statements like "If the Nassarius attacked it, it was dead or dying." They have no way of knowing if something is dead or dying (or injured, or stressed) except by their chemoreceptors, telling how something "smells." If you pull a leg off of a shrimp, it will "smell" different than one with all its legs. If you take a live shrimp and expose any flesh, the Nassarius will kill it, even if they are Nassarius vibex. What chemicals enter the water when something is injured? I don't know, as it probably varies with the animal. But, most animals produce stress chemicals when they are injured, distressed, or otherwise harassed. Fish do it, snails do it, and so do most other animals. Many carnivores have become adept at detecting chemicals that indicate a potential meal, and there is no reason to believe that Nassarius don't do the same thing. If they are attacking a shrimp that has a leg or two broken off, they aren't attacking it because death is imminent. They are attacking it because it smells like dinner. They will ensure that it doesn't recover, and I suspect the same goes for other animals that "smell" injured, even if they are only stressed. Maybe they smell "susceptible to attack" rather than dead or dying.
All that said, some species are more likely than others to help prey animals become "dead or dying." The two species I mentioned above are two of the most aggressive species, but they aren't the only species in the genus that will finish off vulnerable animals. As you mentioned, Nassarius vibex is one of the most common in the hobby, and like many of the smaller species, they don't appear to be overly aggressive. I personally think the small species are less risky, even if they might not be totally innocent.
Cheers,
Don
All that said, some species are more likely than others to help prey animals become "dead or dying." The two species I mentioned above are two of the most aggressive species, but they aren't the only species in the genus that will finish off vulnerable animals. As you mentioned, Nassarius vibex is one of the most common in the hobby, and like many of the smaller species, they don't appear to be overly aggressive. I personally think the small species are less risky, even if they might not be totally innocent.
Cheers,
Don
pagojoe
Team RC
The largest species grow to over two inches. The "Tongan" Nassarius lump a couple of different species, N. arcularius and N. coronatus, and maybe another similar species or two. N. arcularius reaches about 40mm, and N. coronatus about 30mm. The most common 2-incher is Nassarius papillosus. The vast majority of snails in the genus are about the size of N. vibex, though, ranging from less than half an inch to about three quarters of an inch.
Cheers,
Don
Cheers,
Don
I recently purchased one of these:
http://www.marinesgardens.com/Dynam...ebrates_LPS_01_eng.php?cat_id=59&prod_id=1438
and witnessed it eating two of my snails while they were attached to the glass. he's in my sump at the moment. I have to wonder if its a nassarius at all. I've had the vibex and super tongans in the past with no issues attacking healthy animals that I know of.
http://www.marinesgardens.com/Dynam...ebrates_LPS_01_eng.php?cat_id=59&prod_id=1438
and witnessed it eating two of my snails while they were attached to the glass. he's in my sump at the moment. I have to wonder if its a nassarius at all. I've had the vibex and super tongans in the past with no issues attacking healthy animals that I know of.
I had a similar issue this morning. I found my clam had exspelled his foot from the rock it was on and there were 3 Nassarius snails inside him and my cleaner shrimp was piling on as well. I've been battling pyramid snails but thought I had them beat. The clams color never quite returned after the pyramid snails. I picked out the snails and thought I'd give the clam until tomorrow to show improvement before removing. The clam didn't smell but after reading all this I bet he will tomorrow.
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