Is this snail safe?

clowninaround7474

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
Kind of looks like a nassearus snail but I'm not 100% sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jagermeister

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
It looks to me as if it may be a whelk. Nassarius go after carrion, whelks prefer fresh meat. Do a search for predatory whelks and see if you can identify it as one. If so, I'd remove it. They hunt live snails and clams.
 

jagermeister

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
I forgot to add, another indicator would be if you witness the snail burrowing under the sand. If so, may be nassarius. If you only see it on the rocks and on top of the sand, most likely a whelk.
 

asn-naso

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
jagermeister;289063 said:
I forgot to add, another indicator would be if you witness the snail burrowing under the sand. If so, may be nassarius. If you only see it on the rocks and on top of the sand, most likely a whelk.
I had one of those a long time ago, and by the looks of yours, I agree. I do not think it is a nass.
 

yOdaddy

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
They are good. Got a bunch in my tank. They come out from the sand to eat left over food. I alway try feeding my scoly on the sand bed and they seem to literally come out like zombies and try to take the food out of the mouth :( Im sure its fine if you have 1 or a couple but i got like 10 which can sometime gets out of hand when feeding. most now is in the sump :D
 

SynDen

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
M.A.S.C President
M.A.S.C Webmaster
#9
Id keep an eye on it, if it burrows in the sand it prolly isnt worth worrying about, but if it lives on the rock then you may want to remove it
 

aztecdreams

Bat Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
Is this snail safe?

I also think it's a whelk, especially if it came in on rock. Some are snail eaters
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#11
I'm almost sure its a Whelk Snail! Whelk Snails are [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]carnivores and may attack and eat snails and scallops, they will definitely eat clams! I've not ever seen them attack coral, but I wouldn't consider them to be reef safe. The main differences between a Whelk and Nassarius is the spotted or a "tattooed" look on their "snout". [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Also, the feeler or eye stalks appear to be longer on the Nassarius snails, when you compare them to the Whelk's extended appendages. Whelks may "crawl" across the sand in your tank, but will not ever burrow under it. Whelks will usually spend all their time on rock structures, so coming in on live rock is also a clue.
[/FONT]
 

Labsalesguy

Angel Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
thanks everyone for your replies. When i saw the snout it made me think of the national geographic Barrier Reef Documentary- there is a segment that shows a snail snout swallowing a whole fish while it sleeps!
This AM its nowhere to be seen.
 
Top