killer conus

[jterrell]

Any one out there ever have a problem with conus? My wife and I just pulled about 35 out of the tank. I knew I had one or so but wow. We added two new peppermint shrimp today and the conus swarmed on one of the shrimp. My wife took the tweezers to them but the shrimp feel on it's side with a conus still attached. The conus are about the size of an uncooked grain of rice and have an orange and white color pattern. Sorry but I've been too busy chasing snails to get a photo. The tank is just over a year old and we just noticed them last month. Anyway just curious if anyone had a simulair experiance.

 

[Koshmar]

Are you talking about the poisonous, harpoon-like needle, killer snails that eat fish?

http://biology.burke.washington.edu/conus/catalogue/index.php
Just found that site, it may help with identification.

 

[greenbean36191]

I would be extremely surprised if these turned out to be cone snails. There are many predatory snails with generally conical shells that can show up as hitchhikers. Getting a cone as a hitchhiker happens very rarely. Getting 35 would be just about unheard of. I'm anxiously awaiting a picture.

 

[pagojoe]

HMMM, orange and white pattern, bunch of them, swarmed your shrimp...did they look like this, by any chance?

http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_2150.html

or this:

http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_10570.html

or this:

http://www.gastropods.com/1/Shell_2281.html


Only really tiny Conus snails would be that small, and they are hiders at that age, and aren't aroused by the smell of food to the point of swarming. If they aren't marginellids, I'll have to have a pic to help ya out.

Cheers,



Don

 

[jterrell]

I bow in shame to you pagojoe. The photo of volvanina mexicana looks just about right. Should I continue the carnage or let them be? In researching I find photos but no eating habits.

 

[pagojoe]

Well, they are mostly scavengers, but like some Nassarius, aren't above jumping on something and killing it. That is usually limited to tiny animals, but in the case of an injured or stressed animal, they certainly might make sure it didn't recover. A few of them usually aren't a problem, but you might want to keep trying to reduce the number in your tank. If you put a piece of cloth or screen just under the sand, or maybe even on top of it, and bait it with something meaty, you should be able to lift out most of them in a few trapping sessions.

Cheers,



Don

 

[jterrell]

We left te dead shrimp at the bottom as bait and got about thirty of them out. I think it odd that just introducing shrimp whould cause them to swarm. The two shrimp were healthy and seemed fine and then one of them simply fell off the rock. I noticed a couple of snails on him when he fell. I just assumed....
Thanks again for your info, that is what makes reef central!

 

[Koshmar]

My God that's amazing! I've never heard of snails that swarm. I'm thinking species tank just to watch those little guys. How do they kill their prey? Is it similar to the conus snails? Sorry I just don't know much about snails so if anyone could give me a good link on common aquarium snails with a lot of information on each that would be great. The only sites I've found have very little info on each snail according to their common name.

 

[jterrell]

Reef Central gets my vote on best info! I went from conus to volvarina in just a few short post. Har.:beer:

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13966612#post13966612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Koshmar
My God that's amazing! I've never heard of snails that swarm. I'm thinking species tank just to watch those little guys. How do they kill their prey? Is it similar to the conus snails? Sorry I just don't know much about snails so if anyone could give me a good link on common aquarium snails with a lot of information on each that would be great. The only sites I've found have very little info on each snail according to their common name.

you want to see swarming snails get yourself some nassarius....mine swarm like crazy when the food comes...

 

[Koshmar]

I have about 6 nassarius snails and I never really see them swarm. Although my mantis usually picks them off really quick; they're her favorite snail.