Starfish and Snail ID

[SuperNerd]

Hi guys,

I was wondering if someone could please tell me which "groups" this snail and starfish belong to? Both are small, about the size of a thumbnail. Sorry for the blurriness of the pics.


Thanks in advance!

Starfish (Creme colored with grey speckles. 5 arms, usually laid out flat but tips are pointing upward in these pics. I find it often eating/eating the skin off this type of "red bubble algae" as well as other types of algae except caulerpa. Not too sure if it eats slime algae but i've also found them near what looks a little bit like slime-ish algae.):

Snail (blackish- grey colored outer and upper foot with bottom creme colored):

 

[saltycreefer]

Asterina star, not 100% sure on the snail so I wont take a guess...

 

[greenbean36191]

Well the snail is a trochoidean of some sort, so it's a grazer, but I can't really get a feel for the shape of the spire in the pictures. Could you get a shot of it from the side?

 

[SuperNerd]

I hope I got what you were asking for.
I wasn't sure if "spire" means the "tip"/pointiest part of the shell's surface or something else so I took several pics.

Note: This isn't the exact same snail but is one of them.

Are these snails intertidal, where do they generally originate from in the world and what is the temperature of the waters they live in?

 

[greenbean36191]

where do they generally originate from in the world

I was hoping you could help me with that bit. That would go a long way in narrowing down the candidates.

Quite honestly, I can't tell what they are, but my first guess would be Tegula of some sort (same genus as "margarita snails"). I certainly wouldn't put any money on that guess though. From there you would have to pin the ID down to species to know for sure about water temp and habitat since there are species that can be found all over. AFAIK most are intertidal to upper subtidal.

See if you can get a picture of the door this guy uses to close his shell. If you can't get a good picture just see if it's protein or calcium and if there is any sort of sculpting or pitting to it.

 

[SuperNerd]

I believe the majority of the rock in the tank, (of a fellow reefer) where these snails came from, are this: http://www.livestockusa.org/FIJIBRANCH.html (Fiji branching rock).

Here are some more pics of the snail:

I tapped the little "door" with a metal rod and it didn't feel as hard as say an astrea (the ones that can't right themselves and have a white, bony door) but it wasn't as soft as those certain turbo snails who have a "non bony door" as well.

In all honesty I would not have bought them if I thought they were temperate margaritas (they were supposedly reproducing in the tank they were kept in...and I was under the impression that margaritas have yet to reproduce in captivity).

 

[greenbean36191]

Well, like I said I wouldn't put any money on them being Tegula. Even then, not all species in the genus are temperate. I'll have to take another look tonight.

 

[SuperNerd]

Okay, thanks.

 

[SuperNerd]

Any other opinions?

 

[SuperNerd]

bump

 

[greenbean36191]

After looking again I'd say I'm about 80% sure it's Tegula, though I still can't narrow it down any more than that. In any event, it's definitely a trochoidean, so if these were mine I wouldn't be overly concerned about an exact ID.

 

[SuperNerd]

Okay thanks. Given the fact that the rock they came in on was most likely Fiji Branch...what temp do you think they would be found in?