hitchhiker snail, ID??

[revkev6]

I've got a snail that came in as a hitchhiker on some liverock I got from the LFS. it has attached itself to an astria snail a few days ago and hasn't moved from it. the astria doesn't seem to be doing well at this point (may or may not be related) this is a pretty new tank.

can you ID this guy? it looks like some kind of conch, but don't they burrow in the sand??

 

[markviiisvt4]

Just had one of those about an inch and a half long. It would actually chase down and attack my turbos. It is some type of conch though. If it's the same things i had in my tank they are nasty lil buggers.

 

[greenbean36191]

No, it's not a conch. It's a murex of some sort and will likely feed on other snails.

 

[pagojoe]

As greenbean says, it's a murex and will feed on other molluscs. It's probably a juvenile Chicoreus florifer dilectus from Florida. Some of the Indo-Pacific murexes in the same genus look very similar as juveniles, though.

http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_2940.html

http://www.gastropods.com/2/Shell_22.html

Cheers,




Don

 

[revkev6]

thanks guys! i'll pull him out when I get home from work tonight. think i'm too late to save the astria though. poor guy lived through a week in a mantis tank without a problem but I'm pretty sure this tiny murex snail got him.......

 

[markviiisvt4]

Face on me...