What snail is this?

[polydactyl]

hmmmm...might be a species of whelk...if it is a whelk i'd get it outta there. most all known species are predatory from what i hear........

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Naw, whelks opening typically extends from the front all the way back.

Its probably a Pleuroploca gigantea; Florida Horse Conch

Very probably some type of FASCIOLARIIDAE such as the tulip snail

 

[rjarnold]

Don't think so :\ Needs to have white flecks. I might just give up and report back later if it does anything bad

Naw, whelks opening typically extends from the front all the way back.

Its probably a Pleuroploca gigantea; Florida Horse Conch

Very probably some type of FASCIOLARIIDAE such as the tulip snail

 

[Herefishyfishy]

White specks on the foot like this tulip snail pic?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2378/2530575228_06de5ce8ae.jpg?v=0

 

[rjarnold]

White specks on the foot like this tulip snail pic?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2378/2530575228_06de5ce8ae.jpg?v=0

Ohhh, yeah. Looking at other tulip pictures (Fasciolaria tulipa), it certainly looks like this could be it.

It eats snails... nice

 

[NaH2O]

Mike, I kind of thought about the tulip snail, too, however, I don't believe the aperture to be the same. I'll see if Boomer will be on the case. He has a ton more books than I do...

 

[NaH2O]

I wish this shell wasn't so covered in coralline, as I noticed other snails in this genus have a red foot: http://www.poppe-images.com/images/image_info.php?picid=928962

 

[rjarnold]

I wish this shell wasn't so covered in coralline, as I noticed other snails in this genus have a red foot: http://www.poppe-images.com/images/image_info.php?picid=928962

Might be on to something there... there's even one in that collection of images that's red with white specks! Mine is partially covered in coralline as well - I thought the first picture showed part of its shell broken but that's the coralline that's broken off.

I can't find any info on what Latirus snails eat? My snails all seem fine by I hardly ever see my black limpets so I wouldn't know if it decided to eat them... :\

 

[Boomer]

rjarnold has it but still no ID. The strip is a key and I do not see it on any of the other snails. I think Herefishyfishy is correect and may be just some kind of Tulip.

Other than that, we would have to go to one of the big snail image ID sites and spend lots of time looking for it.

SHELLS DATABASE http://shell.kwansei.ac.jp/~shell/pic_book/

Eddie's Shell Catalogue
http://park.org/Guests/Shells/Shell_Catalogue/Shell_Pages/Shell_Catalogue_Home_Page.HTML

Hardy's Internet Guide to Marine Gastropods
http://www.gastropods.com/

Onchology
http://www.worldwideconchology.com/MainFrames.shtml

Nikki

I do not think it is Latirus thay are longer

http://www.poppe-images.com/images/image_info.php?picid=904565


Mike
Ohhh, yeah. Looking at other tulip pictures Fasciolaria tulipa

My guess also but I do not think that is it either.

 

[rjarnold]

Update on the guy:

No shells (ie, dead snails) have been found. The snail in question is on a rock, perhaps munching on algae?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Update on the guy:

No shells (ie, dead snails) have been found. The snail in question is on a rock, perhaps munching on algae?

:lol::lol::lol:

We can only hope. Even if hatched as a predator, maybe can become born again vegan

 

[rjarnold]

:lol::lol::lol:

We can only hope. Even if hatched as a predator, maybe can become born again vegan

Haha, born again vegan, nice

Seriously though, there are snails all over nearby, and it's not doing a thing. I've only bought 20 snails, and one died (or was dead?) right away. I've been keeping track and counting all of them whenever possible. Have never seen all 19 at once, not surprisingly, but yesterday the count was at 18!

I also did a very unscientific experiment - I threw in some meaty food and:

the two peppermints were the first to respond
the damsel came into action next
then the nassarius snails popped out of the sand in order to grab some grub

the astrea snails didn't respond
the snail in question didn't respond
the frogfish didn't respond

And for anyone that boggles over the livestock list - the peppermints and damsel were meant to be food for the frogfish. He has, instead, become friends with them and only eaten thawed foods. The oddest frogfish I've ever owned.

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks, Boomer! That stripe on the shell was making me nuts. I looked at so many shell pics and couldn't find it, then I got tired and frustrated . What really made me crazy was the link provided to another person's webpage that had the same unidentified snail.

Cool about the frogfish not eating his friends, although, who knows what will happen in the future!

 

[Boomer]

Well, Nikki me too. The other thing is that I have seen this snail before in a book or on line and can't find the flippin' thing

 

[Boomer]

I found it

FASCIOLARIIDAE - Leucozonia nassa

 

[rjarnold]

Great find Boomer!

So it IS a carnivore, too bad. I wonder what it eats primarily - if not snails/limpets, it will surely die in my tank (I know, you're all thinking I should just squash it anyways ).

 

[Boomer]

The family Fasciolariidae contains a wide variety of groups, such as the tulip shells, the horse conchs, and the spindle shells. All of them are carnivorous, usually feeding on bivalves and other snails. Most of them live near coral reefs or rocks offshore in tropical and semitropical waters.

 

[rjarnold]

The family Fasciolariidae contains a wide variety of groups, such as the tulip shells, the horse conchs, and the spindle shells. All of them are carnivorous, usually feeding on bivalves and other snails. Most of them live near coral reefs or rocks offshore in tropical and semitropical waters.

So odd that it hasn't fed on any snails yet then. Just not hungry?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

You sure Boomer? Most pictures look quite different. Juvi?

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Leucozonia nassa&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Does the nassa have a speckled red foot and that shape operculum?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Looks like it is a red snail after all! Looking more and more to be the right critter
http://books.google.com/books?id=-N...&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result