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01/08/2015, 06:00 PM | #1 |
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 4
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What is this snail rider?
Yup isn't this fun?
snailfriends3.jpg To my knowledge they've been together happily about two months. snailfriends2.jpg My best guess is some kind of segmented worm. snailfriends.jpg Should this snail be worried? |
01/08/2015, 08:25 PM | #2 |
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,239
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Strange. Any more information? Does it feel hard or soft? Does it move? Have you seen it eat?
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When you put an animal of any kind in a situation where it can no longer fend for itself, such as an aquarium, it's your job to care for it to the best of your ability. It's that simple. |
01/08/2015, 09:52 PM | #3 |
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I was watching for a little longer. When the sucker slithered off the snail and made a bee line for the front right corner of the tank. At its longest stretch I'd say it was close to 4" long.
worm.jpg It seemed to be going after the pods! Unsuccessfully might I add. podhunter.jpg Ultimately it met its demise. It ended up wrapping itself around that floating thermometer in the background. It was simple enough to remove and rinse down the drain. B.t.w. I realized that I should have turned up the white spectrum on my led's sooner. |
01/09/2015, 01:31 PM | #4 |
Moved On
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 14,854
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It looks kind of like the Syllid worm outlined in this link.
http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhiker.shtml |
01/09/2015, 02:14 PM | #5 |
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 4
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Thanks for the response. That's about what my best guess came to after snapping that last picture and scouring the net.
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01/09/2015, 10:18 PM | #6 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 3,178
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Definitely a syllid, but one with really strange behavior. I've never heard of one either riding a snail like that or going after small crustaceans.
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Cheers, Leslie So many worms, so little time... Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County |
01/10/2015, 01:09 PM | #7 |
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Join Date: Jan 2015
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Yeah I have no clue. The tank is only 4 months old. Maybe it was behaving strangely because there's no suitable food source?
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Tags |
creepy, hitch hiker, parasite, segmented worm, symbiosis |
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