Nassarius/Whelk help please

[hien.nguyen80]

Hello guys,

I got about 10 snails from somebody who was kind enough to include them w/ the sand I got.

I wanted something that would help stir the bed up.

Noticed after acclimation that they spend a lot of time on the glass wall (I see their little mouths sucking at the glass wall... seems a bit too small to do any good cleaning the algae!)

Anyways, I was able to use the search function on nano-reef.com and am curious if I can get more feedback here about these possibly being whelks...

I don't have any corals or anything, this is a FOWLR and my only fish is a clown fish.

I have two turbo snails also...

Characteristics of these snails are... they have the little long syphon, they have the darker shells... they don't seem to have an interest in the food I drop near them....

Please advise :)

p.s. they don't appear to have that little "TRAP DOOR" above their tails... their "tails" aren't long at all either...

[msman825]

:) you gotta pic of them

[hien.nguyen80]

Took pictures of a few of them :)

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9553/img0010go6.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1309/img0011fj8.jpg http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/6969/img0012nu5.jpg http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/3847/img0014mh6.jpg http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/557/img0015uq5.jpg http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/8395/img0016ed2.jpg

[hien.nguyen80]

Anybody?? :)

[melev]

Looks like N. obseleta to me. Typically these don't do too well in our tanks because they are used to cooler water.

Except for the third picture from the bottom. That one is something else.

None look like you'll have anything to worry about, predator-wise.

[650-IS350]

Is that a vibex in the bottom ???

[barbra]

I have had 2 welks before, one of them was quite large and it took some time before I discovered it as it was in hiding all the time.

The identifying features on my welks were the spotted foot and the fact that the shelll had white specs through the middle portion and not on the tip like the more desirable snails do. Welks seem to move really darn fast in comparison to other snails I have noticed too.

[rustybucket145]

they don't look like predatorial snails to me except for possibly the third one from the bottom but I can't be sure about that one.

[Travis L. Stevens]

They look like Ilyanassa obsoleta snails to me. The third from the bottom could quite simply be a Strombus Grazer as they are called. Here is some more information about Ilyanassa snails: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/mg/index.php

[Paintbug]

Ilyanassa obsoleta for most of them. the one in the forth pic is not, like Melev said. it looks like a columbellid snail of some kind to me. maybe a Strombus maculatus, which would be good. read up on those Ilyanassa obsoleta with that article that Travis posted. i had some in my tank, they didnt last long. some from the same batch had flukes, that cause problems for another guy that got them.

[melev]

Thanks Travis. That's what I meant to say. ;)

[Travis L. Stevens]

I thought so. FWIW, I've had some of these snails that I acquired back when I was newer, and I have now had them for two years in an 80+ºF tank. Of course, I think this is the exception and not the rule.

[hien.nguyen80]

Hmm... supposedly these guys will mate and multiply like crazy!

[giantxtc]

If they were whelks they would chase the food.I had 2 in my tank before I noticed they were eating all the other snails.They grew fast,moved fast and had a green colored "trap door" when they closed up.

[hien.nguyen80]

Hmm, thanks for the feedback guys!

What DO these snails do then? They don't seem to be doing anything...

[hien.nguyen80]

Bump?

[melev]

These tend to snack on algae, keep the sand stirred up, and give you something to post about. ;)

[Paintbug]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9432470#post9432470 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
These tend to snack on algae, keep the sand stirred up, and give you something to post about. ;)

that pretty much sums it up :). that and they can carry flukes, which will attack you. they bury under your skin, and ich like crazy.

[hien.nguyen80]

Wait, that was a joke right?

[Paintbug]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9435779#post9435779 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hien.nguyen80
Wait, that was a joke right?

the flukes? no joke there.

[Travis L. Stevens]

It's the same concept as Sea Bathers Itch