Nassarius Snail killed Emerald Crab?

[Mako72]

Hello, I checked on the tank tonight to see an unusual sight.
A Nassarius snail had its mouth/nose, etc over the face of an Emerald Crab. The was frozen still and did not look as though it had died in the tank and then the snail found it. Is it possible that a snail could do this?

 

[sedor]

I don't think a snail could kill a crab...snails don't have anything to kill with.

 

[Flightpipe]

It was most likely a molt or the crab was already dead.

 

[pagojoe]

Some snails, including Nassarius, have the ability to kill their own prey, and other snails (e.g., Harpa species) actually kill and eat crabs. However, it's unlikely that a Nassarius could kill a crab. It's more likely that it was checking out the crab's molt, as FP mentioned above, or that it was finishing off the cleanup job after it died.

Cheers,



Don

 

[mak3mydae]

+1 for unlikely