Help ID Snail on Snail on Snail

[Brent F]

I noticed some smaller black bodied snails living on the back of a turbo snail. There might be another one on the inside of the turbo’s shell. Are there harmfull and, if so, what should I do about them?

Detail â€"œ Snail in red circle is living on the back of the turbo. Snail in red circle is living on back of the one in the red circle

 

[J. Montgomery]

stomatella snails?

Are you saying that they never move off the turbo?

 

[RichardPryor]

Both look like limpets.

pagojoe will give you a better answer.

Nice picture btw!

 

[Brent F]

I had someone tell me the following:

very cool hitchers! These are slipper snails, a kind of limpet. They are harmless filter feeders and just stay in one place on the rocks, shells, etc all their lives. If they just happen to pick a snail shell, then all the better since they get to hitch a ride.

A cool lil bit is that the small ones are male and eventually become females as they age. As they make new snails, they stack up with the big female on the bottom, hermaphrodites in the middle, and males on top.