Mystery snails -- Pyramidellids?

[skyfireblaze]

Well, I just got my first clam a week ago. Late Saturday night, I thought I'd better check for pyramidellid snails. I found several of these little guys in my tank. Most of them (I counted about 8 or so) were going to town in the detritus that seems to collect in the middle of my sand. Only one was on my clam. It was not near the byssus, however. I checked the clam again last night and didn't see any of these little snails on or near the clam. They were there in the detritus again ...

Do you think these are pyramids or could they be small ceriths that have hatched in my tank? I used to see eggs from my ceriths fairly often, but it's been a while now ... I found Dr. Ron Shimek's article on pyramidellid identification, but I'm still not sure (not a large experience base to draw from here ... )

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7957489@N08/2344787264/" title="Aquarium Snails by skyfire.blaze, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2340/2344787264_65be5e5c1f.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="Aquarium Snails" /></a>

Click on the picture to follow the link back to my Flickr page - there's a larger version of the picture available there ...

 

[pagojoe]

You just about have to look at the protoconch under magnification to be sure. You're pics are good, but you'd just about need the snail filling the frame to be adequate for a positive ID. That said, they look like rissoids to me.

Cheers,


Don

 

[skyfireblaze]

Thanks! I'll see what I can do to get a closer look. In the meantime, I'll just keep a careful watch ...

Thanks again. If nothing else, it's good fun to stare into the tank at night ...

 

[johnnybravo234]

I used to have those in my tank before I went to bb. They never bothered the clams. Keep an eye on the new guy.. you can never be too careful.