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View Full Version : Help ID this snail. They are eating all of my Turbo's


Charlene
01/14/2014, 08:25 AM
Please help me to identify this snail. I bought 6 of them for my 400 gallon tank and they have eaten a bunch (over 20) of my turbo and other snails. I was told they were conchs however they don't seem to move like I would expect them to.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XzBCZq3EAOA/UtVF_5aVrsI/AAAAAAAAC2o/MDlari1jKqQ/w944-h708-no/IMAGE_3ACBB3DB-0470-4C20-A9BC-EB7D12FA6A94.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MGonne_Q_eM/UtVHwQlUt4I/AAAAAAAAC3M/OEPvLjV3-UA/w944-h708-no/14%252C+8%253A20%253A26+AM

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xwYXB7TBkJ8/UtVFzcZ8YQI/AAAAAAAAC2Y/lkapq4A6vlY/w944-h708-no/IMAGE_478F3687-5653-408D-9262-A7398F92E9BB.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dEPrXyeWvA0/UtVGE108gEI/AAAAAAAAC2w/sEYxdEVEpWA/w944-h708-no/14%252C+8%253A13%253A20+AM

Spyderturbo007
01/14/2014, 08:36 AM
Looks like it may be a Crown Conch from the pictures I looked at online, which is predatory.

ReefCleaners has this to say about them:

Crown Conchs - A predatory snail that will eat other herbivorous snails, leaving your tank with algae. They are also cannibalistic. The largest online vendor has confused these with Fighting Conchs, and they have begun to give the correct species a bad name.

I would take them back and demand a refund for your lost turbo snails. That's ridiculous that the LFS didn't label them correctly or at least inform you that they will eat all your snails.

Lowefx
01/14/2014, 08:40 AM
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zcBmMPJrrKk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Charlene
01/14/2014, 08:52 AM
Lowefx don't tell me you suspect this is a cone snail? They are very dangerous im told.

Rutrag
01/14/2014, 12:39 PM
Lowefx don't tell me you suspect this is a cone snail? They are very dangerous im told.


It's not a cone snail, I'm sure, but could be the aforementioned crown conch or perhaps some kind of whelk.

Charlene
01/14/2014, 12:46 PM
Whatever they are. They REALLY enjoy eating my snails. I pulled all six of them out of the tank. I'm down to a handful of snails. Time to restock :-).

cloak
01/14/2014, 01:02 PM
If you haven't already, you might want to post these pictures in the Other Invertebrates Forum. There's a few people there that are very good at identifying things for people.

Sugar Magnolia
01/14/2014, 01:06 PM
If you haven't already, you might want to post these pictures in the Other Invertebrates Forum. There's a few people there that are very good at identifying things for people.

Specifically PagoJoe. You can also send him a PM with a link to this thread and he'll ID the snail for you.

Breadman03
01/14/2014, 01:26 PM
That is a crown conch. I owned one for a bit and watched it chow down on almost all of my snails. Spyderturbo nailed the ID. It will happily eat every snail in your tank.

I can pull the empty shell from my sump if you would like to see a picture.

A rule of thumb for conchs is eyes that look like a person's eye are safe. The rest aren't.

Khemul
01/14/2014, 03:02 PM
Yep, Crown Conch. Well, it's a Whelk, but the common name is Crown Conch, which does lead to a bit of confusion.

Breadman03
01/14/2014, 05:36 PM
Yep, Crown Conch. Well, it's a Whelk, but the common name is Crown Conch, which does lead to a bit of confusion.

I actually just came back to the thread to mention the "whelk" bit.

Misled
01/14/2014, 07:26 PM
it's a Whelk

Yep.

KafudaFish
01/14/2014, 07:36 PM
You should name him Lawrence.

Misled
01/14/2014, 07:54 PM
You should name him Lawrence.

Does he blow bubbles???

Breadman03
01/14/2014, 07:57 PM
Lotsa Loungers escaping today!

PDBB got discontinued at work last week.

KafudaFish
01/14/2014, 08:01 PM
Yes.

downbeach
01/15/2014, 06:39 AM
Conch: Eye at the end of the stem

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee410/Downbeach88/Conch.jpg

Whelk: Eye about in the middle of the stem.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee410/Downbeach88/Whelk.jpg

Meanmike
01/15/2014, 07:05 AM
Looks like it may be a Crown Conch from the pictures I looked at online, which is predatory.

ReefCleaners has this to say about them:

Crown Conchs - A predatory snail that will eat other herbivorous snails, leaving your tank with algae. They are also cannibalistic. The largest online vendor has confused these with Fighting Conchs, and they have begun to give the correct species a bad name.

I would take them back and demand a refund for your lost turbo snails. That's ridiculous that the LFS didn't label them correctly or at least inform you that they will eat all your snails.

Curious as to who the largest online vendor they are referring to? I thought that title belonged to Liveaquaria which IME does not sell crown conchs. Does anyone know?

Charlene
01/15/2014, 12:37 PM
Conch: Eye at the end of the stem

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee410/Downbeach88/Conch.jpg

Whelk: Eye about in the middle of the stem.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee410/Downbeach88/Whelk.jpg

Thanks. This is really helpful. I live and learn. I pulled another one out. That's number 7. Can't recall how many i purchased but I believe it was 8. One more to find or perhaps it's gone. I was shopping with 2 guys who have been in the hobby a long time and they didn't realize these were bad at the time. They went in as my initial cleanup crew. Tank is still pretty new. It's been running for about a year now. Look close in the middle of picture and you can see one of the welks.

Here's a picture:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9_n-Z0rcANo/Ui3eLfYJW_I/AAAAAAAACvg/EuWhsdzlqK0/w887-h665-no/IMAGE_7592FC12-99D6-4326-8EA3-2CE6BF9CAD09.JPG

pagojoe
01/16/2014, 02:46 PM
I see you already got a bunch of good answers. Yes, it's a "Crown Conch" which isn't really a conch at all, it's a Melongena, which is related to the whelks (same superfamily). They're really effective snail killers.

Cheers,



Don