What in thwe world is this...

[Jcohen9999]

I had a mexican turbo fall on to its back in my tank which is never a good thing for the snail...but very good for my hermits which were immediately all over it however, I can back a few hours later and there's this blob like thing that came out from under the rocks and was enveloping the meaty part of the snail...

Anybody have any ideas?

TIA

Jeff

I took these pics as it was retreating but it was some sight to see this thing covering the opening of the snail.

 

[keithntracy]

Looks like one of those polyclad flatworms. Someone correct me if thats wrong.

 

[SKremk]

Oh man, that's a great photo. I'm with keithntracy, it looks like a polyclad flatworm. I've never seen one actually in the process of eating a snail before. They are predators, so definitely get it out ASAP.

 

[Jcohen9999]

It's freakin huge. I got into a tug of war with it over the snail and the the body of the snail pulled out of the shell. but not before I got a better look. The edges are flat and thin like a nudibranch and the body is just a huge non-descript translucent blob.

Googling polyclad flatworm right now...

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Jcohen9999]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15189377#post15189377 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SKremk
. They are predators, so definitely get it out ASAP.

Predatory for what?!?!? Snails? Fish? Corals?

 

[SKremk]

From your description, it does sound like a polyclad. Many feed on inverts. I've heard stories of them eating snails. There was a guy at a local reef club here who had a huge one munching on some montipora.

 

[pagojoe]

It's a polyclad, and that one is pretty obviously one of the species that eats snails. You'll want to remove it if you intend to keep snails in the tank.

Cheers,



Don