Hitchhiker snail id...possibly SPS eater

[Kurt448]

I found these two guys inside of my new A. Turaki. The inner portion of the colony is starting to bleach a little while the outer tips are coloring up and looking great. I am thinking these two guys can't be helping. I was able to remove both of them. Their shells were rather brittle at the ends and broke a little when I grabbed them with the hemostat. They are now being held in a small viewing container till I can get a better id.

My snails:

After doing some research I found that these guys are SPS eaters, but I'm not sure they are the same species.

Snail link

 

[Snail Guy]

Hard to identify from your picture though I suspect what you have are young Cymatium. Removing them was smart but I'm not certain these are causing your coral to bleach.

The specimens figured from Poppe's site are Drupella cornus and, yes, they are known to feed on coral, particularly Porites. As a muricid, this is a bit unusual...most will prey on barnacles, worms, snails, and clams.

Cheers,
Bob

 

[Kurt448]

I'm near certain that these little buggers are eating the coral tissue. I just found another large one inside the thickets. I can't imagine they would be doing anything else up on the branches...other than eating the coral. Is there any angle of a picture that I could get that might make an ID more possible? Obviously I'm not used to IDing snails Thanks for the help btw Bob.

 

[Snail Guy]

Happy to help Kurt. While I'm curious about what have, it is of lesser importance than removing them, as you did. I certainly would not consider them 'reef safe.'

And it is quite possible you nailed down the ID...not the first time I've been off-base with an ID...sometimes they just stump ya. Anyhow, a picture of the aperture would certainly help in offering a more confident ID...if you can get closer, all the better.

Take care,
Bob