Nassarius or not

J

Joe37

New member
well I wasn't paying attention when I asked for some nerites snails at the LFS, so when I got home and looked in the bag I was a little shocked when I saw these guys. What throws be is the size, I have the small vibex ones and the super Tongan and it's somewhere in the middle.
 

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that does appear to be. i believe they're called an operculum. i'm having trouble finding information as to whether or not Nassarius snails have them.

the shell does appear similar to other snails i've seen labelled as Nassarius, but that's not necessarily indicative.

snails IDs are tough. =\
 
In the second picture it shows some sort of shell they have on their tail. Also of the three I got two of them are on the rocks and one of them is on the glass. None have went under the sand.
 
Joe, they are whelks you need to get rid of them. If you have a sump then put them in it. Otherwise they will eat things you don't want them to.
 
Unfortunately I don't have a sump and don't know when my parents will be able to take my back to the LFS. Should I leave it in a cup with some tank water in it for the time being or just let be in my display until I can go to the LFS in a couple of weeks.
 
It probably will be ok for a short period of time, just make sure it's eating some meaty foods like mysis. Also keep an eye on it to make sure it's not killing snails or other tank inhabitants.
 
I'm fairly certain that that snail IS a nassarius, i've had them in all my tanks iand i remember them having an operculum. IDK if i'm right but just my .02 cents
 
I have several Nassarius snails and two Tonga Nassarius and can promise you that none of them have the shell flap covering their tails. Also Nassarius will burrow in the sand and Whelks won't from what I've heard can't confirm on the Whelks burrowing or not as I've never had them nor will I ever have them.
 
I'll make sure to check my Tongans when they pop out of the sand next time I feed and see if they have the flap or not. I'm thinking they don't but never really was looking for it.
 
Nassarius snails are whelks. But they are good welks who only eat stuff that is already dead.
Strombus grazers are not whelks but they kinda look like they are. Strombus are collumbid (that's not how you spell it tho) snails that are good. They stay pretty small.

I can't be sure from your pic, if it were me I would take it out since bad whelks can be hard to get rid of once they start to breed. I'd go with better safer than sorry, unless you can be sure they are nass or strombus. The melev page linked above is very good.
Idk if the trapdoor is reliable for id
 
Ok so I turned the lights off and monitored their behavior. One of them is just chilling in a little rock crevice, one cannot be found, and one was on top of my trochus snail. He didn't attack the trochus snail just stood on top of his shell. So I took him and put him on the sand along with a nassarius vibex and the vibex glided right over the sand while the other seemed to struggle to move around and went straight for the glass
 

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Yeah, being awkward on sand is a bad sign. But idk, they could also be groggy from the trip home...
Can you get a good look at their "snorkels" to compare?
 
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