HUGE SNAIL like a foot long

[nikesb4l]

My room mate came home with a huge snail. It looks like a tulip snail. He found it on a sandbar and didnt know it was still alive it has Ivory brush coral. I Was hoping someone can help me I.D it. Im working on the pictures

 

[nikesb4l]

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[nikesb4l]

im guessing its a type of conch

 

[greenbean36191]

It's a giant horse conch, which is not a conch at all, but more closely related to tulip shells. These guys are predators of other mollusks and as you might be able to guess they have a huge diet.

 

[nikesb4l]

thanks thats what i was thinking because we found it in north carolina.

 

[Freed]

If you keep it I'm sure you could feed it the inexpensive clams from the market or shrimp, etc. But it probably prefers cooler waters than what you keep your tanks at.

 

[nikesb4l]

I'm going to bring it back to the ocean, it's knocking everything down. I live 5 mins away from the beach so i have everything avaiable to feed it if, I choose to keep it.

 

[greenbean36191]

Once animals have been in your tank with organisms from other parts of the world they should never go back into the wild. Either set up a tank for it or euthanize it and keep the shell.

 

[ctenophors rule]

or.....you could sell it to another aquarist.......

 

[Elysia]

I thought that they were important to their ecosystem? How long does it take for an animal like this to grow to this size? To kill it just for its shell... I guess it is the same as killing any animal for its hide, horn(s), antlers... but it just seems like a waste.

 

[ctenophors rule]

it isn't like that ellysia.

once an organism enters a marine tank , it is bombarded with all kinds of pathogens, some that could wipe out an entire species, even an ecosystem, if introduced to an environment where the organisms have not built up a toerance for it.

 

[Ooulophilia]

People eat these all the time, so I would not worry about one less out there.