herefishiefishie
Premium Member
Every week I will be posting a new mollusk for discussion. Please post everything you know about this week's mollusk, to include pics, care and feeding habits, optimal environment, common names, and anything else you can think of.
This week's mollusk is a common hitchhiker in our tanks, the Vermetid snails or Worm Shells. There are those little creatures that live in little holes or tubes in the live rock and send out stringy webs of mucus to catch particulate matter for nourishment. Some information on these creatures can be found on pages 578 and 579 of the Baensch Marine Atlas Volume 2.
Two common sepecies of this type are Dendropoma maxima (the large worm shell) and Serpulorbis arenarius (the Mediterranean worm shell).
I find that they benefit from the occasional "storm event" (blowing particulate matter off your live rock periodically with a small powerhead or turkey baster).
Please post any information or experience you might have on these common reef inhabitants, especially pics if you have them.
This week's mollusk is a common hitchhiker in our tanks, the Vermetid snails or Worm Shells. There are those little creatures that live in little holes or tubes in the live rock and send out stringy webs of mucus to catch particulate matter for nourishment. Some information on these creatures can be found on pages 578 and 579 of the Baensch Marine Atlas Volume 2.
Two common sepecies of this type are Dendropoma maxima (the large worm shell) and Serpulorbis arenarius (the Mediterranean worm shell).
I find that they benefit from the occasional "storm event" (blowing particulate matter off your live rock periodically with a small powerhead or turkey baster).
Please post any information or experience you might have on these common reef inhabitants, especially pics if you have them.
Another one, whom I've named Happy (it's the only thing in my tank with a name) often "turns around" in his tube, doing a complete 180 spin. It's quite amusing to see this, and it's the only one in the tank that actually "moves". As for their benefits, they are excellent cleaners, and grab a significant amount of detritus floating in the tank (makes my skimmer's job a little easier). As for their downfall, I have to feed slightly more than what would be normal, so that my worms and copopeds get enough to eat. And they're extremely painful if you pick up the rock they're on. Never been cut, but I image that it's not out of the question.
