Nassarius snails?

[Reef Bass]

My LFS sold these to me as nassarius snails. I have other nassarius and these do not bear resemblance to them, other than having long snouts and burying in the sand. The shells are very differently shaped and the color of the shells and snouts are not the same as my other nassarius.

I realize Nassarius is the genus and I accept there can be substantial visual differences between species of a given genus. These seems so different as to make me wonder if they are in fact Nassarius and are the reef safe critters I like having around.

I apologize for the not great pics.

What do you think?

Thanks.

 

[pagojoe]

Easier to identify with an apertural view, but I think they are both probably Nassarius. The lower pic looks to be a juvenile, and some of the juvenile whelks can look remarkably like juvenile Nassarius. The adult lips make the shells more easily separated. There are several hundred species of Nassarius, and a lot of different subgenera. I suspect these are in a different subgenus from the others that you have.

http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_1930.shtml

http://www.gastropods.com/9/Shell_20629.shtml

http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_4040.shtml

http://www.gastropods.com/8/Shell_3318.shtml

Cheers,



Don

 

[Reef Bass]

Thanks Don. I appreciate your input and the links. I have a clam in my other tank which shares the same water system and my concern was one or both might be whelks.

 

[one4gatr]

This thread is just a couple down but this MAY be what you are seeing...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1712770