What to feed baby knobbed whelks?

[SueAndHerZoo]

Yes, you read that right.... my animal rescue work has expanded from dogs, squirrels and turtles to knobbed whelk! Walking along the beach in September I came across the strangest looking thing and just HAD to take it home to figure out what it was. After a lot of searching it was determined that I had found a washed up "necklace" of knobbed whelk egg casings. Since I found it on shore I figured it was dried up and no longer viable but I couldn't take the chance.... I dug out my 14 gallon Biocube, filled it with sand and saltwater, and threw in the egg casing.

Low and behold, I have hundreds of baby whelk! Yes, I know I do NOT want these in my aquariums, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with them but for now my concern is keeping them alive. They are carnivorous predators, but these guys are SO TINY I don't know what to throw in there for them.

From what I've read they will eat the unhatched siblings, but when those run out I need to supplement. Any suggestion? Should I go buy fresh clam meat for them? Anyone ever "rescue" washed up whelk eggs before?

Sue

 

[muppet]

Are they endangered or something? Throw them back!

 

[FroMan]

sounds like the DIY food recipie will work based on what they eat.

Here is a link to a recipie:
http://www.melevsreef.com/food.html




http://www.dnr.sc.gov/cwcs/pdf/Knobbedwhelk.pdf

Whelks are carnivorous gastropods that feed on
bivalves such as hard clams (Mercenaria
mercenaria), oysters (Crassostrea virginica),
and incongruous arks (Anadara brasiliana).
Knobbed whelks use their shell's lip to chip and
pry the valves of their prey apart by holding it
with its foot so that the ventral edges of the
prey's valves are under the outer lip of the
whelk's shell. Slow chipping continues until an
opening occurs to allow the whelk to wedge its
shell between the clam's valves and then enter
its foot to begin feeding. Since the feeding
process results in damage to the shell, limited
growth sometimes occurs in adults as energy is
used to repair their shells (Carriker 1951; Magalhaes 1948)


http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/lwhelk/

The carnivorous habits of the whelks begin as hatchlings. The whelks that hatch feed on the eggs that did not hatch. When feeding, an adult whelk will try to pry open a bivalve by inserting the edge of its shell inside the bivalve and using it like a crowbar. If it cannot pry the bivalve's shell open this way, it will grind the shell with its own shell until it creates a hole large enough to insert its radula (toothed tongue). The lightning whelk can "smell" its prey with special sensory organs inside its body and will almost completely bury itself searching for other food.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Well Geez! (thwops self on forehead) I have made homemade fish food for my reef tanks in the past, ran out about a month ago, and haven't had the chance to make more due to the holidays. Sounds like it's time to stink up the kitchen!

Thanks for the reminder. The whelks (and my other tank inhabitants) appreciate it!
Sue

 

[mtc1966]

probably would of been best to leave them on the beach and let nature run its course. they would of either got washed back into the water or fed some birds.

 

[Reefir]

taking specimens from the beach could be illegal and should not be posted , someone on here got busted for having a new england reef/tank

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Had I known there were potential living things in there I would have left it on the beach. My husband and I were debating on whether or not this "thing" I found was natural or man-made. He was convinced it was something formed out of a plastic mold and I thought it must be some part of some plant.

They will go back to the ocean in a few months - I just want to keep them fat and happy until then.
Sue

 

[Reefir]

lol. i didnt know u actually thought it was man made , wish u had a pic of ur findings .

 

[georgie1]

You can also call the Mystic aquarium

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

lol. i didnt know u actually thought it was man made , wish u had a pic of ur findings .

Ryan, here's what it looked like - it's sitting on a full-sized dinner plate (for size comparison). It's springy, like a Slinky and feels like it's made out of plastic!
Sue

Oh, I give up. I've been trying to reduce the size of the photo for 30 minutes now and even though I got it down to 108 KB, it says it's too large. I'll try again from home later today or tomorrow.