Whelk or nassarius

[Tlonghorn]

Well I recently got 2 "nassarius" snails but now I'm questioning that labeling and was wondering if I could get some help finding out it if they'll eat my snails (sorry about the poor quality camera phone)

 

[badbreath]

I'd vote for nassarius. Check out this link

http://melevsreef.com/node/1716

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Nope, those are whelks. Whelks have two things a nassarius doesn't have. One is a shell like a foot cover over their abdomen, the other is they have mottled skin the nassarius has solid color skin.

Yes, whelks are carnivores.

 

[Keoki18]

^+1

 

[cloak]

Maybe this link will help with an identification.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/rs/index.php

Pagojoe should chime in here soon though. He should be able to tell you exactly what kind of snail you have there.

 

[pagojoe]

They are Nassarius. It's probably a variant of Nassarius reeveanus. Remember me telling you that "foot cover" and mottled skin rule wasn't absolute? Here's an example.

Cheers,



Don

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Yes Don, now that you remind me of it I remember :hammer:

That's what can be so confusing in this hobby, too many things that look like something else :hammer:

The RED Foot, have to remember the RED Foot

 

[badbreath]

I'd vote for nassarius. Check out this link

http://melevsreef.com/node/1716

Ha-ha! Redemption[emoji106] [emoji92] [emoji93] jk

 

[Keoki18]

The mottled skin is at least a good general indicator. I have been tricked in the past letting some species of snails that were thought to be nassarius live in the past. Found them feeding on polyps soon after.

This being said, the shell is not as "ribbed" as I first thought. Something that I always attribute to whelks. So you are most likely correct.

What is your fool proof method of ID Pagojoe? JW for future

Thanks

 

[Dria]

Can we play one more time?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

No red foot Dria so that is a Whelk!

I think LOL

 

[badbreath]

Nah I'm doubling down on nassarius

 

[Dria]

If it helps he hasn't done anything other than clean the glass so far, but he's pretty small.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Nassarius snails are sand dwellers and are usually never out accept for at night or right after you feed your tank. They come busting out of the sand like a bunch of zombies. LOL

 

[pagojoe]

LOL they're not all either whelks or Nassarius. I can't be 100% from the single pic, but I'm pretty sure that last one is a miter. It will feed on tiny worms. The only foolproof method of telling whelks from Nassarius snails is to know all the species. Still, they actually have slightly different shapes and shell characteristics. Only a couple of species look enough alike to be difficult, and that's only when you don't have good multi-view pics of the shells.

Cheers,



Don

 

[badbreath]

LOL they're not all either whelks or Nassarius. I can't be 100% from the single pic, but I'm pretty sure that last one is a miter. It will feed on tiny worms. The only foolproof method of telling whelks from Nassarius snails is to know all the species. Still, they actually have slightly different shapes and shell characteristics. Only a couple of species look enough alike to be difficult, and that's only when you don't have good multi-view pics of the shells.

Cheers,



Don

In that case Dria has lost a point

LOL they're not all either whelks or Nassarius. I can't be 100% from the single pic, but I'm pretty sure that last one is a miter. It will feed on tiny worms. The only foolproof method of telling whelks from Nassarius snails is to know all the species. Still, they actually have slightly different shapes and shell characteristics. Only a couple of species look enough alike to be difficult, and that's only when you don't have good multi-view pics of the shells.

Cheers,



Don

 

[Dria]

Awww Lost my points before I even had any! I think the miter sounds pretty likely. He hasn't left the glass in a week, just motors around eating something. Doesn't seem to be predatory to snails.

 

[badbreath]

awww lost my points before i even had any! I think the miter sounds pretty likely. He hasn't left the glass in a week, just motors around eating something. Doesn't seem to be predatory to snails.

live fast or die hard in the other invertebrates arena

 

[pagojoe]

It's probably a juvenile Strigatella species, although there are a few other mitrids that can look similar as youngsters. Here's one that resembles yours, Dria:

http://www.gastropods.com/5/Shell_28445.shtml

 

[justthewife]

The one difference between whelks and nassarius snails is that a whelk does not glide across the sand or glass like a nassarius snail and it is also much slower. The whelk reminds me much of a mechanical bull in the way it moves. Sort of bucking rocking jerky movements. Whelks also sleep in corals, so if you find a nassarius snail napping in a hammer coral or stylophora coral, be very wary.