Let's Talk About ~Snails~

[Brian Koyama]

Where did you guys/gals purchase your true Trochus snails from? I've seen sites list them as black footed snails, etc, but would like to buy the ones in this post.
TIA
Brian

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with limpets and the Scutus. IMO, if they haven't done any damage, that is good. I would just keep that in the back of your head in case you are problem solving in the future. I have been looking at night in my tank to see if I have a Limpet because some of my coralline algae will have a path mowed through it. I haven't seen anything yet (also thinking urchin).

Brian - Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!! I purchased mine from Premium Aquatics. If you find them, send an email prior to purchase to make sure they are the ones you want. I have seen them listed as "Tiger Trochus", and I think also "Banded Trochus" before at other online retailers. Hope this helps!

 

[NaH2O]

The last "good" snail I'd like to mention is the Bumble Bee snail (Enigna (Pusiostoma) mendicaria). According to Anthony Calfo and Bob Fenner in "Reef Invertebrates", page 201:

....this species is often cited as being beneficial for aquariums, but that is doubtful for live sand, refugium and live rock bio-diversity. We'll concede that these whelks are simply beautiful and fairly harmless. But to be clear, like the other members of this family, they are physically unable to eat algae as they lack the necessary feeding aspects to accomplish this. They are predatory snails that eat worms and perhaps other desirable fauna in the sand. For teir very small adult size, however, they likely do little harm in a healthy system. All things considered, we recommend that you avoid keeping them in small aquaria and refugiums, but enjoy them in larger tanks or very deep sand beds instead.

Here is a photo of one:

My own experience with these, is they don't do much that I can tell. I normally see them checking out a detritus pile, one of the empty snail shells, or "sniffing" around on a rock.

Does anyone else have these in their tank?

Let's also talk a bit about the snails we don't want to see in our tanks. Which ones do we want to leave a sign saying "Do not enter"? Or when we see them, their presence really ticks us off??

 

[wrightme43]

I want to know more about, bad snails, like the cone snail and the ones that eat zoos. I mean my understanding of a cone snail is that it can stick a little harpoon in you, inject you with poison, and kill you. I would like to hear about those. Anybody have any evil snails? Pictures? Maybe this thread could go to the dark side of snails. LOL Thanks for all your work here Nikki, its been a great thread so far. Steve

 

[wrightme43]

bumpity bump bump. Any body got any first hand experince with the dark side of snails?

 

[NaH2O]

Start off with a good one Steve. The cone snail! Yikes - stay away! Here is some information about them: Conotoxins - the venom from Cone Snails. If you should happen to encounter a cone snail in your tank as a hitchhiker (most cone snails live in the Indo-Pacific region), use caution when removing. Cone Snails aren't the most agile creatures, so in order for their prey to be captured, venom is injected that causes paralysis. There have been documented cases of human envenomation - some fatal, however, they don't deliberately try to sting humans unless bothered. Cone Snail venom is a neurotoxin that is diverse and potent depending on species. In fact, the cone snail itself changes the make-up of its toxin as needed. The various neurotoxins have different modes of action. For example, three classes affect neuronal communication, but by different targets (i.e. sodium channels and nerve receptors).

One recommendation I've come across....if you ever happen to be envenomated by a cone snail, it is important to take note of what the shell looked like or bring it along to the ER.

For more information on Conotoxins and their modes of action: Cone Snail Neurotoxins

Here is an interesting video of a cone snail and prey: Envenomation by a Cone Snail - this one shows the prey after it has been envenomated.


Another uninvited guest for zoo tanks is the Heliacus sp. snail. This baddy is predatory. Unless you want to rid your tank of zoanthids, remove it when found. Also referred to as the Sundial or Box snail. It is most often found when it's eaten most of a colony of zoos. Inspect new zoo acquisitions carefully, for these guys. Other than prevention, and manual removal, I don't know if there is any other way to rid your tank of these pests.

Here is a photo:

 

[wrightme43]

Diggin it. I went a read all about them. Here are a couple of pics for reference. They are testing parts of its toxin for Parkinsons disease treatments. Which is good. My mom has 3rd stage, PD.

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks for posting up the pics, Steve. If anyone is interested in snail shell identification help - here are a couple of shell websites:

Alboran Shells
Gastropods

It is interesting that researchers are using conotoxin for Parkinsons. I had found when looking for info on palytoxins (from palythoa spp), there is research using palytoxins for the fight against cancer (lost my mom to cancer). Amazing how many of the toxins from the Ocean are getting researched, even for pain management. I think it is great.

I would also like to mention Pyramidellidae snails, aka Pyram snails. They are parasitic to clams and snails, and only a few mm in size. Here is a shot courtesy of the clam man and my buddy Barry Neigut of Clams Direct:

It is important to inspect all clams prior to introduction for these little guys. According to Daniel Knop, these are mostly found on the outer fringe of the shell, hiding under the overhanging mantle. Check in the byssal area, and look for a jelly-like mucous, which is the egg mass. Use a toothbrush to wipe away the jelly sacks. Remove all empty hermit and snail shells, as well. They will also hide in there. Eggs can also be deposited in the substrate. The Pyram snails feed at night on lymphatic fluid. Signs of pyram snails include the mantle not fully extended or partly retracted and the shell is not completely opened. If these snails are suspected, check the clams late at night/very early in the morning. Manual removal is probably the best means of erradicating them, and brush the shell with a toothbrush to be sure and remove egg masses. Placing the clam and snails (i.e. astreas) in a QT for a few weeks, while checking them daily, would work very well, especially if you have substrate. Daniel Knop sites the reproductive cycle for these snails as 2 weeks (from egg to final snail).

Here is a thread Barry has on Clams Direct....including a great photo of an infected clam: Check your clams!

I'm not sure if there is a fish that can completely rid a tank of these if there is an infestation.

 

[MikeS]

I would also like to mention Pyramidellidae snails, aka Pyram snails. They are parasitic to clams and snails, and only a few mm in size.

I have several snails that look a lot like the ones in the photograph...I only tend to see them at night, and usually they are on the glass or on top of the sandbed or rock. I have not seen them near my T derasa or any of my corals...are these possibly just harmless grazer/scavenger snails that have a similar appearance?

MikeS

 

[NaH2O]

Mike, have you checked your clam and snails for any possible parasitic snails prior to lights on? I haven't come across any info on pyram resembling snails that are harmless scavengers, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be. If you can grab a few and take a pic, maybe that will help. I also don't know about baby cerith snails and their appearance.

 

[MikeS]

Mike, have you checked your clam and snails for any possible parasitic snails prior to lights on?

Yeah, actually I spend quite a bit of time peering into the tank at night...(it's right by my computer ), especially after I add anything new, just in case there are undesireable hitch hikers...so far, aside from the odd hitchhiker crab, the only other bad guys I've spotted over the years in my tank were a few heliacus box snails...I've never seen the small pointed shell snails like in the photo anywere too near my clam or corals, nor are either showing any signs of parasitic distress, but I'll definately look a little closer after lights out tonight....

If you can grab a few and take a pic, maybe that will help. I also don't know about baby cerith snails and their appearance.

I'll try to get a few of them out for a photo...

MikeS

 

[Angelscrx]

I saw some of these little white shelled snails in my tank way before I ever had clams. I do have all kinds of snails so I assumed they were babies. I will start checking my clams at night but they are not showing any of the signs indicated here.

 

[wrightme43]

What about snails that get to big? It is my understanding that some counchs are predetory too. Is that right?

 

[MikeS]

What about snails that get to big? It is my understanding that some counchs are predetory too. Is that right?

Yeah, some conchs like the Horse conch or the Crown conch are predators, but I belive that the the two most common seen in reef tanks (the Queen and Fighting conch) are strictly herbivores...

MikeS

 

[gobie]

Actually the Queen conch and the Fighting conch are detravours which makes them ominovoures. the I have seen neither my Queen nor my Fighting conches leave my sand beds. i have seen both tongues in action and neither has radialia like a herbivore

 

[NaH2O]

gobie that is a good point about the eating of detritus, and made me check some information. My reading all indicates that members of the family Strombidae, are strictly herbivorous. In the book Reef Invertebrates, Anthony Calfo & Bob Fenner state this in regards to Stombids and their diets:

Natural diets include algae and detritus, but these snails will ususally scavenge for most anything; farmers have even developed a pelleted chow to feed them.

The crown conch (Melongena corona), also called the Mangrove Conch, is in the family Melongenidae, and not Strombidae. As MikeS stated, it's predatory in nature, and is said to eat several hundred turbo snails in just a couple of weeks.

Whelks are another type of snail that is predatory. From the family Buccindae (which may have the same super family as the crown conch). These are sometimes labeled as "conch" snail. One way to tell the difference from a strombus conch and a whelk conch is by looking at the eyes. A true strombus spp will have large evident eyes at the end fo a long eye stalk, with a visible pupil. In predatory whelks, the eyes are just a small black dot found at the base of the tentacles coming off the head.

Note the strombus eyes in this photo:

Murex snails are another group of predators. Prey includes, snails, barnacles, and bivalves. Some hobbyists keep these and feed meaty fare like shrimp, clam, krill, etc.

 

[FishyinKy]

I have some turbo snails that are absolutely huge and to the best of my recollection around five years old.

 

[swissgaurd]

this thread has been a great help thanks
vic

 

[Beeba]

I have a snail that has a shell the size and shape of a turbo but it is a dark brown snail and has long tentacles. It is much different than a turbo but it eats hair algea like crazy.

 

[Blue Baron]

I've also had problems with turbo snails falling on their back and dying. I made the mistake of thinking the hermits were killing them off . . . look in the tank and find two or three hermits prying the flap open on a turbo . . . so we got rid of all the crabs . . . snails kept dying. I recall seeing one on it's back, and spaced it. A day or so later I finally turned it over, but it was dead.