I have a zebra snail thats probably 3 years old. Today he came out of his shell, climbed back onto the rock, and has resumed cleaning. Anyone every heard of this or know why he schucked his shell? I have several other snails and they're all business as usual. Weirdest thing!
Turbo with no shell
- Thread starter Aerron
- Start date
Bongo Shrimp
P. ceratophthalma
Ok, normally I would say you're misidentifying something or you're just plain confused but it truly appears that your snail dropped it's shell. I don't know why it may have done this but I can tell you it is probably sick and may die soon.
romsoccer12
New member
snails cant detach from their shells, they are connected. thats crazy. please someone get in the thread who knows whats going on!
Bongo Shrimp
P. ceratophthalma
I know, thats what I was thinking, they can't detach from their shell, but it sure looks like escargot to me. Someone explain.
Salamander
Active member
I've seen it before but can't remember the reason. So I'm no real help except that I believe you're correct in the ID. Unfortunately this won't end good for the snail.
Salamander
Active member
Found a few more examples but I can't remember where I saw an explanation. Maybe there never was a definitive answer.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1436306&highlight=snail+lost+shell
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1193930&highlight=snail+lost+shell
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1055581&highlight=snail+lost+shell
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1436306&highlight=snail+lost+shell
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1193930&highlight=snail+lost+shell
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1055581&highlight=snail+lost+shell
romsoccer12
New member
bump
pagojoe
Team RC
Salamander gave you the links to just about everything I could tell you about it. It happens occasionally, although it's hard to say exactly why it happened in your case. There is one article on the web (it's hard to find with a search engine, but I have it bookmarked on the computer at home) that describes a bunch of muricids, Nucella lamellosa I believe, becoming detached from their shells. The guy speculated that grabbing them and twisting them loose from their rocks, or perhaps their own twisting, could cause the ligament to become detached. Once it happens, the snail can't return to the shell, and is usually destined to become food for the other aquarium residents if it isn't moved to a tank of its own. Even then, it has lost most of its natural protection, and may not live long since there are lots of tiny things that you might not notice that may attack it.
Here's a link to an abstract of the Nucella lamellosa article:
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-163544385/shell-less-nucella-lamellosa.html
All the places I can locate on the net charge for the article, however, either the entire article or a summary of it is availble free of charge...if you can find it. As you can see, the abstract suggests that "stress" might have caused the animals to become detached from their shells.
Bottom line: it's probably a goner.
Cheers,
Don
Here's a link to an abstract of the Nucella lamellosa article:
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-163544385/shell-less-nucella-lamellosa.html
All the places I can locate on the net charge for the article, however, either the entire article or a summary of it is availble free of charge...if you can find it. As you can see, the abstract suggests that "stress" might have caused the animals to become detached from their shells.
Bottom line: it's probably a goner.
Cheers,
Don
