Need help with snail ID

[rubberguard]

I do know that he only eats dead coral, and he turns completely white by moving the membrane that covers him, it's a defense mechanism against predators that use sonar, pretty cool!

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

I think it's some type of cowrie. Pagojoe will be able to give you a more specific ID. Pretty! Where did you get it?

 

[rubberguard]

I picked him up from a LFS just south of Tampa, FL. If you reach in and touch him, he turns whit in a second. I was worried that I might lose him earlier when he decided to pass in front of my mantis' burrow, the mantis poked his head out and watched him very closely until he passed. The LFS is called Life Oceanic, and it was $4 for the little guy, I went in for something different and picked him up on an impulse.

 

[greenbean36191]

Actually it only eats live gorgonians. It's a flamingo's tongue, Cyphoma gibbosum.

 

[pagojoe]

Yup, what greenbean said. They "turn white" when they retract their mantles, and all you see is the shell. The spots are on the thin mantle. They are actually ovulids rather than true cowries.

Cheers,



Don