graveyardworm
Premium Member
I've got a bunch of these and they appear to be breeding. At first I thought collonista, but I'm not so sure. They're about 1/4 inch.
Snail ID please
- Thread starter graveyardworm
- Start date
pagojoe
Team RC
It's one of the snails in the subfamily Colloniinae, for sure. It probably belongs in the genus Collonista, but if may be a Homalopoma species. As far as being "good guys" in a reef tank, either should be great. (This is one of the species that has been fairly consistently identified as Collonista amakusaensis, but I'm not positive that this is the correct ID.)
Cheers,
Don
Cheers,
Don
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Do all collonista have a hole in the operculum? Thanks Don.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
These guys dont have a hole in the operculum as prominant as my other collonista. These guys just have a tiny dimple. This guy also has deep dimple at the edge of the aperture which isnt present in my collonista. Is it possible these are just two different species of collonista? Here's a pic of one of my larger collonista for comparison. You're the expert Don and I appreciate your insight very much Thank you.
pagojoe
Team RC
Hey David,
I'm not at all sure they are the same species. I've collected quite a few of the snails in the original photos on this thread, and they've languished in my containers, and my species list, as "Homalopoma species 1." Throughout the genera Homalopoma, Phanerolepida, Leptothyra, Neocollonia, Collonista, etc. you find the dent in the operculum, and it ranges from a fairly shallow, comparatively large dent to the little pinholes you've seen in some species. The truth is, I don't know how many species there actually are, nor how variable the one being called "Collonista amakusaensis" actually is. I'm sure there is more than one species floating around the reef tank crowd being lumped under the single name, though. Just not sure how many.
In "Marine Mollusks in Japan," the example of C. amakusaensis is white. Most of the photos I've seen in other publications show a white shell that is sparsely flammulated with brown markings. I haven't really seen anything with the denser markings, with the possible exception of Neocollonia pilula, and those markings appear to be gray rather than brown. Again, without a large group for comparison, it's difficult to guess the range of variation within the species.
As you've probably noticed, the smaller the snail, the harder it is to identify, unless it has some really spectacular characteristics. The popular literature tends to ignore them, and it would take quite a specialized library to crosscheck the possibilities. I don't know of anyone that is super-specialized in these little guys, but Dr. Jim McLean (occasionally of the LACM these days) is probably about as knowledgeable as anyone on the subject of small turbinids. Leslie probably crosses paths with him fairly often, maybe she could get him to give the snails a once-over. I'd like to know what they are for sure, too.
Cheers,
Don
I'm not at all sure they are the same species. I've collected quite a few of the snails in the original photos on this thread, and they've languished in my containers, and my species list, as "Homalopoma species 1." Throughout the genera Homalopoma, Phanerolepida, Leptothyra, Neocollonia, Collonista, etc. you find the dent in the operculum, and it ranges from a fairly shallow, comparatively large dent to the little pinholes you've seen in some species. The truth is, I don't know how many species there actually are, nor how variable the one being called "Collonista amakusaensis" actually is. I'm sure there is more than one species floating around the reef tank crowd being lumped under the single name, though. Just not sure how many.
In "Marine Mollusks in Japan," the example of C. amakusaensis is white. Most of the photos I've seen in other publications show a white shell that is sparsely flammulated with brown markings. I haven't really seen anything with the denser markings, with the possible exception of Neocollonia pilula, and those markings appear to be gray rather than brown. Again, without a large group for comparison, it's difficult to guess the range of variation within the species.
As you've probably noticed, the smaller the snail, the harder it is to identify, unless it has some really spectacular characteristics. The popular literature tends to ignore them, and it would take quite a specialized library to crosscheck the possibilities. I don't know of anyone that is super-specialized in these little guys, but Dr. Jim McLean (occasionally of the LACM these days) is probably about as knowledgeable as anyone on the subject of small turbinids. Leslie probably crosses paths with him fairly often, maybe she could get him to give the snails a once-over. I'd like to know what they are for sure, too.
Cheers,
Don
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Thanks Don, I'll try to get in touch with Leslie and see if we cant figure out what these guys are for sure. Actually I'm also putting together a shipment to Brian Plankis at DIBS. Perhaps I could toss some in and let him use his contacts to get them figured out.
LeslieH
Premium Member
You should send me some shells (minus the fleshy inhabitants) for Dr. McLean. Much easier to ship than live material. Just throw them into a crush-proof box & mail by regular post.
Don - there's nothing occasional about Jim. He's here every day working on his new book until late in the evening. It's huge, with hundreds of new species, many new genera, re-assignments, etc. It will be the absolute must-have book for everyone in the field when it's finally published. If you have shells with questionable ids I can pass them along.
Don - there's nothing occasional about Jim. He's here every day working on his new book until late in the evening. It's huge, with hundreds of new species, many new genera, re-assignments, etc. It will be the absolute must-have book for everyone in the field when it's finally published. If you have shells with questionable ids I can pass them along.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Thanks Leslie, my PM and your post just crossed paths. Whats the best way to kill and empty the shells?
pagojoe
Team RC
Thanks for the info, Leslie. I had understood that Dr. McLean had taken time away from the museum to work on the book, but didn't realize he was mostly working on it AT the museum. 
I'm anxiously awaiting its publication.
In the past, Dr. McLean has often requested that snails sent to him be preserved in alcohol, since he sometimes compares animal characteristics as well as conchological characteristics. However, that was with the Trochidae, and I'm not sure if he would be interested in that level of detail if just identifying a small turbinid. I think the recommendation was 30-40% ethanol, since high concentrations tend to turn snails into something like vulcanized rubber, and less than about 30% may allow the animals to decompose. David, if you do clean out the shells, make sure you keep each operculum bagged with the shell it belonged to. That may sound overly obvious, but it's pretty easy to mix them up if you clean out several shells at once.
Take care,
Don
I'm anxiously awaiting its publication.In the past, Dr. McLean has often requested that snails sent to him be preserved in alcohol, since he sometimes compares animal characteristics as well as conchological characteristics. However, that was with the Trochidae, and I'm not sure if he would be interested in that level of detail if just identifying a small turbinid. I think the recommendation was 30-40% ethanol, since high concentrations tend to turn snails into something like vulcanized rubber, and less than about 30% may allow the animals to decompose. David, if you do clean out the shells, make sure you keep each operculum bagged with the shell it belonged to. That may sound overly obvious, but it's pretty easy to mix them up if you clean out several shells at once.
Take care,
Don
LeslieH
Premium Member
A couple of years ago Jim decided to become curator emeritus in order to devote all his time to the book. Still there every day.
Good point about the operculum. I've never heard of using 30-40% alcohol but then I don't work with molluscs. I thought everyone used 70%. I'll check.
Good point about the operculum. I've never heard of using 30-40% alcohol but then I don't work with molluscs. I thought everyone used 70%. I'll check.
graveyardworm
Premium Member
I'll preserve them like described in the crabs wanted thread. Is the address the same?
graveyardworm
Premium Member
Leslie your mailbox is full.
