Snail ID - Please help!

[meckie]

Hi All:

I was hoping someone could help me identify whether these snails are safe or not for my reef tank. I bought from LFS and they said these are the good Nassarius snails. Although Nassarius is part of the whelk snail family (LFS told me), I'm worried these are the bad whelk snails. The other day, my small clown got injured and before I could do anything, he floated to the bottom still struggling to move and the snails immediately shot out of the sand and attacked him.

Characteristics of these snails:

1. They do bury themselves in the sand and stick their little tube out
2. They leave a slimy trail behind when they move
3. When they close up, they do have a flap but it doesn't seem air tight

Also, I do want to keep clams in the future - not sure if these are the bad snails.

I have attached some pics.

Tank is 5 weeks old with some corals, 4 trochus snails and (had) 2 small clowns...now 1.
Water parameters: 81 degrees F, Ammonia = 0, Nitrite = 0, Nitrate = 0
Feed the fish (and sometimes coral) combination of flake food, brine and Mysis.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[downbeach]

Here's some pertinent information:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/mg/index.php

 

[pagojoe]

They are honest-to-pete Nassarius snails. Although not all Nassarius are 100% safe all the time with everything, those are comparatively well-behaved.

Cheers,



Don

 

[ReefReal.Com]

They are definitely not the traditional Vibex sp. of Nassarius snail; the Vibex do not have the hard flap on the foot, and they are also colored differently than the ones you have pictured

 

[pagojoe]

They aren't Florida species, but they are Nassarius snails. N. vibex does actually have the hard flap on the foot (it's the operculum), but it isn't as visible as the one in the pic above.

Cheers,


Don

 

[meckie]

Thanks for all the info and help!

Thanks for all the info and help!

Thanks guys for all the help and info. They don't seem to be harming any of the corals or anything else at the moment. Will keep an eye out for it. In the meantime, had to get another clown to keep my original clown company

 

[joshky]

Either the fish was already dead or it was on it's way out regardless of what you could have done. (IME they only go after fish that are 100% dead) I really love Nassarius Snails, I might even go as far as saying they are my favorites.

 

[Betta132]

Those go after anything that smells edible. This includes dead fish and almost-dead things. If they go after your clams, the clams are dead or dying already.
I only have one of those... He comes out fast when I put food in.