Some "wild" snails...Can anyone ID?

[Krish]

I went out to the rocks this evening to grab a few snails and I was wondering if anyone could ID them and tell me if they are good or bad. Here are a few shots...

Snail #1







Snail #2







Snail #3





All together next to a toothpick for scale






All in a cup

 

[MikeS]

hey there....

The first two photos appear to me to be Astrea snails. The forth looks to be a Cerith snail. Both harmless....

The third photo, on the other hand, looks suspiciously like a Heliacus snail....a predator of soft coral polyps. Hard to tell from just the shell, they are pretty similar in appearence to many small astrea species...if you get one live, flip it over and see if it has a "trap door" that covers the entrance to the shell and protects the animal. If so, it is likely a Heliacus snail...

MikeS

 

[Krish]

Thanks Mike, I'll have to flip him and see. I collected them in puddles which are left behind during low tide. There are literally hundreds of each type of snail where I went and are there year round. I got a few to keep a little bit of the diatoms developing in my tank down. I don't have very much (diatoms) in my tank at all, only in my fuge section of my sump, but I'm sure that as it continues to go through the cycling process, more will develop in the main display. So these guys are pretty good then? If I can remember correctly, Astrea snails are good for cleaning up. I have a FOWLR setup now and will be like that for a while. If the little fellows are "Heliacus snails" would they be fine or not really benficial IYO? Thanks for the info and reply Mike...

 

[MikeS]

ahhh....these are wild caught....I must have missed that in your first post....

The third photo likely isn't a Heliacus in that case, I belive they are an indo-pacific snail....

I would however strongly caution you against adding wild caught snails to your reef....you never know what you might be getting....a nasty predator, parasites and/or bacteria, ect....

I'm a reef hypocondriac....LOL

MikeS

 

[Krish]

LOL...That's cool. I'm OCD bigtime so hey! So you would consider ordering something like a snail to be sure you are getting the right thing and also farm raised/bred? I honestly don't want to add a problem to my tank even though it isn't going to be "reef" right now. My friend from the LFS used the small black ones to clean up his nano this past summer. He added about 50 (he said) and I saw for myself, they wiped that tank clean. That's a toughy...I may have to hold off on adding them now that you mention that about the problems that could be associated with the "wild caught ones". The beach is 2minutes away if I should dump them...

 

[The Apprentice]

Hey Krish before you take them back to the beach go & check out the Snail id section look at the Nerites and Cerith snails. Reeftopia sends divers out and they pick them up around the Keys. Some of those pic's look real close to what is in the Id section...Jeff
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/photos_corals/showgallery.php?cat=537

 

[Krish]

Thanks Jeff! Yeah, the big ones definately look like Nerite snails. I'll have to run down and see if the little fellows have trap door like Mike asked. If they are collecting them from the Keys, maybe they are sneaking over here to the Bahamas and getting some too(LOL). I may quarantine them and see what they do. It would suck to have to order something that I can pick up myself here, but then again it would equally suck to throw them in and have to end up putting my foot in my mouth(LOL). Thanks for the info Jeff!

 

[Krish]

This is the best shot I can get of the little fellow. I can't really tell if there is a trap door because he is so small. Aw well...

 

[spongebob lover]

dood, if you saw it with your eyes that the snails ate stuff of your friends tank then i'd say go ahead but i'd wait on the other ones until you are sure they can do in

 

[Krish]

Maybe we can test them out in your tank to be sure(LOL)

 

[spongebob lover]

hey dood i'd be more than glad to be the chosen one

 

[Detri]

The Long Skinny ones look like Cerith Snails. I think MikeS ment that snail #2 was a Heliacus snail. Not the long small ones, they are Cerith.

 

[Krish]

K...Thanks Detri.

 

[spongebob lover]

you know dood, i think the white one with black i wouldn't trust it, for some reason it reminds me another type of snail that i'd would like having in my tank, no to be mean to the snail and i don't have anything against the snail, but just between us .

 

[NaH2O]

I also think the first ones are a species of nerite, and the long skinny ones look like ceriths, too. I didn't see anything that resembled a heliacus, but here is the photo from the link provided earlier in the thread:

See in the second photo that cone shaped thing? This species of snail has this cone shaped operculum (trap door), and is a good identifying mark.

 

[Krish]

Thanks Nikki. None of them have that cone shaped trap door..

 

[spongebob lover]

yeah that's the snail it reminds me hehe, thanks Nikki .
i wouldn't like having one of them in my tank dood.

 

[Krish]

No prob...You can have as many as you like

 

[spongebob lover]

thanks dood but i pass on that one, i rather not risk it .

 

[bmtpfgh]

Thanks for clearing up the "trap Door" issue,Nikki.I have been ordering Astreas from Reeftopia for several years and they all have trap doors-just not cone shaped.