Pyramid Snail or Something Else?

[Travis L. Stevens]

Well, I encountered something that made me cringe when I saw it. I came home about an hour after the lights went out last night. And, as I always do, check the live stock regardless of the lights being on or off. I'm always eager to look at the little tiny things that often get over looked. It turns out that I found what looked like pyramid snails. But then I got to thinking of how they got in there. I did get a few new frags in from a source that has strict QT procedures and dips all their corals. I didn't QT or dip, but gave them a thurough inspection. They revealed nothing outwardly. But, I put it behind me of where I could have gotten them from and focused more on their effects on my tank. Pyramid snails are known molusc eaters. So, I immidiately inspected all my snails. No Illyanassa obsoleta snails had any on them. My two Astrea snails and my single Mexican Turbo Snail are also free. Also, I have never noted a single snail death of unexpected causes. I have lost a couple to a few hermit crabs. All the snails have been in there about a year. I don't have any clams, but I do plan on getting one very soon. I have a special order already placed. This lead me to believe they may not be pyramid snails. My only other conclusion is that it is either a sand sifting hitchhiker, baby Illyanassa obsoleta, or even hitchhiked baby Cerith snails since Cerith snails have been known to reproduce in captivity. A physical description would be a white shell about 2-3mm long in a smooth, conical pattern. The foot of the snails reaches just slightly wider than the opening. I could not get one to look at its operculum. The width of the shell was about the width of a dime. I do not have a picture. My camera can't take pictures that small.

Here is a picture of a Pyramid Snail that I found on the internet. Mine look very similar, but are smooth to the tip and not rounded out and "bumpy" like these are.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Bump for more information.

 

[Dubbin1]

Sounds like pyramid snails to me.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

That's what I was afraid of. Any suggestions on what to do? I have a black and white Tridacna maxima on the way and I don't want to lose such an expensive and uncommon clam.

 

[anthworks]

Thats a tough one... They are usally on Clams. I had a clam eaten by those pests... Not pretty. I would put the clam in your tank in a location you can easily get at it and inspect the clam every day. Remove the snails by hand. I dont know of any other way.

There may be a fish that eats them?

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Various wrasses and stuff will pick on them on occassion, but I'm going to avoid adding them. Maybe I got lucky and they truly are Illyanassa obsoleta babies. I'm definitely going to keep my eyes on my snails to make sure they aren't getting munched on.

 

[Bippus]

I too had these pop up in my tank about a month ago. I thought they were pyramids, but never saw them on any of my snails or clams. Then the other day I found one and it had grown to a Ã"šÃ‚¼ inch Cerith. It was a big relief!!!!

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6926819#post6926819 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bippus
I too had these pop up in my tank about a month ago. I thought they were pyramids, but never saw them on any of my snails or clams. Then the other day I found one and it had grown to a Ã"šÃ‚¼ inch Cerith. It was a big relief!!!!

That's great to hear. Too bad I don't have any Cerith snails originally in the tank I did get word that they could be rissoids. I'm going to have to take a little google safari to find out more.

 

[jamal-188]

I had them twice before, they were never really a big deal and never killed off a clam. I inspected the clams after lights out every night picked off what I could and eventually got rid of them.

 

[ANNIESREEF]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6926653#post6926653 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens
Various wrasses and stuff will pick on them on occassion, but I'm going to avoid adding them. Maybe I got lucky and they truly are Illyanassa obsoleta babies. I'm definitely going to keep my eyes on my snails to make sure they aren't getting munched on.

Travis, are you saying pyramid snails will eat other snails? I have a variety including cerith with have reproduced in my tank and look exactly like the ones you show on the penny. Their shells are white conical and they like to stay pretty much in the crevis' of the rocks. I've seen pryamids and unless they can vary in color and shape, those do not appear to be, looks like you may have a couple of cerith hithchikers.

I'm not an expert, but have watched the ceriths do their thing and lay their eggs and hatch. It was after the day they hatched that I noticed the babies.... :rollface:

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6943310#post6943310 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ANNIESREEF
Travis, are you saying pyramid snails will eat other snails? I have a variety including cerith with have reproduced in my tank and look exactly like the ones you show on the penny. Their shells are white conical and they like to stay pretty much in the crevis' of the rocks. I've seen pryamids and unless they can vary in color and shape, those do not appear to be, looks like you may have a couple of cerith hithchikers.

Unfortunately, "Pyramid Snails" is a common name. Pyramidella is their genus name. As you can see with a google image search, there are many species and all vary in size and shape. There is a molusc eating "Pyramid Snail" that usually preys on clams but will also prey on snails as well. Also, baby snails often have white shells when they are this young, so there isn't much of a distinguishing mark to rule out if they are babies.

So, all in all, we can conclude that these are either baby Cerith species (little chance but could happen), baby Illyanassa obsoleta (little chance because they don't often reproduce in captivity), a Rissoa species (high chance and a common hitchhiker), a Pyramidella species (moderate chance and a hitchhiker), or the dreaded, molusc eating "Pyramid Snail" (little chance but a hitchhiker)

 

[ANNIESREEF]

Wow...now I had better keep a close watch. I don't have any missing snails nor have I a clam(yet). I am going to research the above.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6945445#post6945445 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ANNIESREEF
Wow...now I had better keep a close watch. I don't have any missing snails nor have I a clam(yet). I am going to research the above.

Thanks for your input.

No problem. Luckily, we have this stacked in our (the reef keeper's) favor. The likelihood of it being that specific molusc eater is slim, but it shouldn't be overlooked. Most likely it is going to be something benign. I'll be sending some of mine to Ron Shimek in the near future and post any interesting information. That is, if I can catch the tiny critters.