snail/whelk id?

[NirvanaFan]

I'm not sure exactly what this is. It came from a rock with a micromussa on it. Any ideas?

I'll keep it out of the tank until I get an id. Thanks!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

can you post a pic of it's other side?

 

[graveyardworm]

Shootin from the hip I'm going with predatory whelk, and likely a coral predator. Went to shell id site and cant find it ( the website is down ). Dont toss it just yet though.

 

[NirvanaFan]

Pictures coming up in 2 minutes Gary. As you can see they're large photos.

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it.

 

[NirvanaFan]

Rather than posting a whole bunch of pictures here, I put them on photobucket. Here is a link to the album they are in.

http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t171/NirvanaFan01234/10-21-09/

 

[pagojoe]

Good pics. It's funny, there are snails from three different families that look almost exactly like this, and you have to examine them closely to tell the difference. There is a Vexillum species that's very close, a Lienardia species that's almost identical, and a buccinid, which this is (as David guessed). It's not a snail eater though, it will be a worm predator. I found one great pic of it, but it's not linking to the larger pic. I guess it will when Eddie Hardy does the next update. Scroll down to Engina concinna on this page:

http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/TN_Family_BUCCINIDAE_PISANIINAE.shtml

That's the good one. The less-spectacular pics are here:

http://www.gastropods.com/8/Shell_7298.shtml

It won't eat your corals.

Cheers,



Don

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

thanks, Don!

thanks, Don!

if you don't want it nirvana I'd be interested in it :bigeyes:

 

[graveyardworm]

Its cool looking indeed.

 

[pagojoe]

Yes, it's one of the prettiest of the Engina species. It's apparently fairly uncommon.

 

[NirvanaFan]

Thanks for the id guys. I appreciate it.

I'll be putting this guy in my tank in a couple minutes. Hopefully I'll have enough of the right worms for it to eat. In my quick search this morning I found other Engina whelks that eat polychaetes. I've got a few different kinds so that would be pretty cool.

Thanks again guys.

 

[graveyardworm]

Not sure how much of a dent this guy might be able put in the worm populations, but the worms are alot more beneficial to your tank than he is.

 

[NirvanaFan]

I figure I'd update this thread. I was moving some rocks around my tank a few minutes ago and saw this little gastropod again. It was in a branch rock on the bottom of the tank. It is still alive, although it doesn't look like it has grown any. He has to be eating something since he's been alive for well over 4 months in my tank now.

 

[pagojoe]

Glad it's doing OK. That one is an adult, though, and it won't grow any larger no matter how much it gets to eat.

Cheers,



Don