I haven't come across this

[mr.maroonsalty]

Any ideas?????

 

[Calappidae]

Very blurry picture.. I'm about to throw out a terrifying id saying eunicid worm but I'm also seeing myself mistaking that for a vermetid snail due to the blur..

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I was on the eunice page too, but the shell kept me wondering. The picture is best I could do with the ipod. The disk below the tentacles is it's operculum. It's some kind of sessile snail. If you look off the tip of the vermetid in front of this creatures head and operculum, you can somewhat clearly see the remnants of the growth edge of and old shell. I'll see if I can baste off the film algae covering the old half of the shell in the AM and try getting a better picture. Kewl thing is my boy thought he saw it cast a mucus net; tonight I was watching it come out and with a sucker-like mouth eat the vermetid's. (sucker as in sucker fish ie Red Horse, not the rasping mouth of our mobile grazers.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

This is a wee bit better; it's half closed and the operculum is clear. It looks like this is at least it's third shell. I'm surprised it survived the Bayer dip.

 

[rssjsb]

That face looks like a large-shelled vermetid snail to me. I've never heard of one that eats other vermetids, though. Weird. Maybe pagojoe or Geritt will stop by and offer an opinion.

 

[pagojoe]

I'm by, but I don't know of any vermetids that eat other vermetids......

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I'm by, but I don't know of any vermetids that eat other vermetids......

Do you see the whitish shell, the slug, and operculum? There is the typical fluted growth edge on the shell. It has a trumpet like mouth that gulps in. What I tried saying is I thought it was drawing in the vertmetids' mucus net; I am not sure of that, however, when vermetids cast their net they remain attatched to it. Will vermetids draw in another's net? That is what I believe I have been watching. It comes out and grabs an existing net and sucks it in with a trumpet like mouth. The slug's actual back is a mottled black and orange; it's rather handsome.

 

[Calappidae]

Maybe their nets are just getting tangled and ones retracting thinking it got a bite to eat.

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

That is likely so. Ron wrote that vermetids will group and produce a mucus curtain. Either this guy is a lucky opportunist hitting the jackpot by finding it's way into my tank with all it's vermetids, or it would make sence that it fishes the same way casting out mucus. Ron mentioned a couple related snails, but the link to the gastropod site was broken. I'm not doing anything with it now but watching it, sooner or later we'll have an id.

 

[Betta132]

Looks like a very large vermatid .

 

[pagojoe]

Yeah, I'm sure it's a vermetid of one sort or another. On the eunicid subject, they don't sit still when they are exposed. They move like they are on fire if you uncover them.

Cheers,


Don