Parasitic snails on a Spiny Urchin.

[AcroSteve]

I have never heard of them, but I got an urchen recently and it has been carrying the exact same snails around for a week. One larger one and a smaller one.

 

[pagojoe]

Cool finds, although I'm sure you're not all that thrilled about finding them. I've looked at lots of urchins and never found parasitic snails on them, although I have often found them on holothurians. They are both eulimids. The big fat one is Echineulima robusta, said to be parasitic on Diadema setosum, Echinothrix diadema, and other urchins. I can't tell what the smaller snail is, but it looks to be a species of Vitreolina. You'll probably want to remove them.

Cheers,



Don

 

[AcroSteve]

Thanks