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FAQs about Marine Snail Identification
12 Related Articles: Gastropods, Sea
Slugs, Mollusks, Abalone,
Related FAQs: Snail ID
1, Snail ID 2,
Snail ID 3,
Snail ID 4,
Snail ID 5, Snail ID 6,
Snail ID 7, Snail
ID 8, Snail
ID 9, Snail ID 10,
Snail ID 11, Snail
ID 13, Snail ID 14, & Marine Snails 1, Marine
Snails 2, Marine Snails 3,
Invertebrate ID,
Snail Behavior, Snail
Selection, Snail Compatibility, Snail
Systems, Snail Feeding, Snail
Disease, Snail Reproduction, Mollusks, Sea
Slugs, Abalone,
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IDs please -
Parasitic snail and goby - 10/11/07
Hello
<Hi John.>
I posted the following on another website and was told to send it to
this email address for identification. Found this little "parasitic
snail" on my Turbo the other day. It appears to have eaten a chunk of
the Turbo's shell to fit. I have never seen it move from this location.
Appears to eat algae off the glass. Hard to get clear pictures when it's
out. Any ideas what it may be?
<There are a number of parasitic and boring snails, that live in
mollusks and echinoderms and sometimes eventually kill them. Family
Pyramidellidae has some of these species. A more definite ID is likely
only possible (if possible at all), when you take the parasitic snail
out of the tank. I’d try to get rid of it anyway.>
Also if you could tell me the type of Goby this is it would be great to.
<Most certainly a Amblyeleotris sp., probably Amblyeleotris macronema,
but there are several similar species. See fishbase, e.g.
http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Photos/PicturesSummary.cfm?ID=47043&what=species
and http://www.wetwebmedia.com/shrimpgobies.htm. Will need an Alpheid
prawn to be happy and share its home with.>
Thank you for your time. John.
<You are welcome. Marco.> |
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Stomatella varia Id - 10/7/07
<Hello there>
I hope today finds you all well and happy
<Very much so, thanks!>
and I
am so grateful, ahead of time, for your knowledge. :)
<Thanks, a good portion of that knowledge I picked up right here at WWM!
How may I help you today?>
This showed up today in my extra refugium growth tank. It's only got 2
kinds of algae I hand-picked to grow in there, copepods, all kinds of
living small things, some coral banded shrimp (2)
<Will prey on a lot of
those “small things”.>,
some hermits (4)
<Ditto>
one Chiton, and now
what looks like a sea slug juvenile.
<It does look a lot like one, doesn’t it? Heee…but it’s not!>
I looked everywhere. The closest thing I can find is Oxynoe Viridis,
however I'd like a second opinion...here are the images, embedded and
attached.
<What you've got there is actually a beautiful little Stomatella varia
snail, a harmless and beneficial little grazer.>
He came in some algae I bought. I have a whole aquarium of it growing
for refugium use. He is about 1/3 inch long, very hard to see all of
him, and he's very small...probably a juvenile. He just showed up
tonight.
<Understandable - he would blend in very well within a clump of green
macroalgae! That camouflage helps protect him from becoming a tasty
snack, and unfortunately, if one of those coral banded shrimp or a
hermit get hold of him, he will be.>
Is he poisonous, dangerous, a trouble-causer, or anything I need to
worry about
<Absolutely not.>
or is he a safe little guy to keep?
<Very much so - he’s one of the good guys! Stomatellids are herbivorous,
mostly nocturnal, vary greatly in color (hence the specie name:
“varia”), and can move quite rapidly for a snail!>
Please help me identify this thing. He's so cute!
<He is, isn’t he?>
Thank you ahead of time. :)
<You’re most welcome! For more information, please see the following
links. The second listed is WWM’s search engine. Simply enter the genus:
“Stomatella”, and you will be rewarded with a plethora of links and
information!
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/index.php
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm >
Here he is blurred, before taking him out and putting him into a bowl,
next to airline tubing.
<Yep, there he is, cruising along.>
Here is a drawing I made of him while he's moving. He isn't as pudgy as
he looks in the first photos.
<Well, you know what they say about the camera adding ten pounds! <G> In
fact, they really are beautifully streamlined little critters.>
Here he is, enhanced, and enlarged in a bowl, but he's got some beige
underneath, and what looks like 2 horns in front and maybe some horns on
the side?
<Those are little sensory antennae in front. By the way, nice photo!
Take care and enjoy your new addition! -Lynn> |
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What Is This...A Worm, Coral, Pest, Any
Clue? – 10/06/07
This thing emits strings of mucous, which it periodically releases into the
current. It acts like a tubeworm and when I touch it, it goes into its shell,
and its orange head almost penetrates the tip of that shell, but never more than
about a quarter-inch. I can see what look like hairs in there, but they never
extend. It sends out mucous when I feed the fish/corals brine shrimp. Any clue
what this is?
<<Yes, not a worm, coral, or pest but rather a type of mollusk…Is a Vermetid
Snail…a beneficial detritivore>>
It just grew there.
<<Indeed>>
I can't find it in any books.
Thanks!
<<Try a keyword search of our site/the Net. Regards, EricR>> |
Oh Mich....
ID Spirorbis spp. and possibly Collonista spp.. Now small snails –
09/29/07
<Hi Melissa!>
I am still battling the horrific red hair algae
<Will take time. Keep on plugging.>
but noticed something else today. I have baby snails. TONS and TONS of
them. At least I think that is what they are. They appear as tiny white
dots and are conspicuously shaped like @.
<The white dots shaped like @ are spiral tube feather dusters (Spirorbis
spp.). They are harmless filter feeders surviving on dissolved nutrients
in the tank. Nothing to be concerned about.>
My 5 snails that I purchased are Astraea snails. There are literally
hundreds of these little things on my glass. If they all mature god help
me.
<They may already be mature.>
I will attach some pics. I do have a few that are a little larger but is
there anything I can do about them?
<Likely you won’t need to do anything about them.>
I even considered trying to sell them to LFS. Sorry the pics aren't the
best I had to use super macro mode and still place the lens to the
glass. Then once again zoom and crop.
<These are fine. You did a good job.>
They are so small look more like specks of dust. I got to looking and
the little buggers are all OVER the place, LR, glass, sand. Literally
all over.
<Reproduction junction? Heehee!>
Funny I am so anal about my water quality and apparently nothing else if
it is just fine
<Heehee! We've all be guilty of tunnel vision.>
for the snails that is assuming they are snails. Funny thing the adults
I purchased have only been in there about a month.
<Although it is possible, I don't think these are babies. I am more
inclined to think these are some sort of very tiny snail species,
possibly (hopefully) mini Turbos (Collonista spp.) which would be a
beneficial addition to your tank. Mini Turbos primarily graze on diatoms
and microalgae.>
Cheers,
Mich>
Melissa
Oh Mich.... ID Spirorbis spp. and
possibly Collonista spp. – 09/29/07
Mich~
<Hi again Melissa!>
After doing some reading I can only come to the same conclusion. I am
assuming they came in with the Aragalive or the LR.
<My guess would be the LR.>
Meaning they have been in there for months but I am just now noticing
them.
<Good likelihood!>
So typical.
<Heehee!>
I was worried my temperature spike had prompted some type of spawning
event.
<This is not unheard of, but not likely to be the case here as it would
likely take longer for the snails to develop to this stage.>
Good lord I was scared. Hehehehe
<Nothing to fear... Underdog is here... OK Underdog isn't here, but I
don't think you have anything to worry about here. You definitely have
no worries with the Spirorbis. But there are some small predatory
snails, but I don't think this is what you have.>
Thanks again,
<Welcome, happy to help! Mich>
Melissa |
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Help ID This
Snail Or Whelk!!!!...Umm, Is A Conch! – 09/26/07
Hi guys!
<<Hey Amie!>>
I absolutely love your site!
<<Thanks! Is quite the collective effort>>
Okay, here's my problem, I don't know what this creature is.
<<I believe I do…>>
We found him and many, many others while snorkeling in the Gulf of
Mexico this past week, some quite large.
<<Indeed>>
Actually, to give a precise area, on the bay side of Cape San Blas,
Florida.
<<Yes, this animal can be found along all of Florida’s coast…and
beyond>>
We brought 5-6 of them home (each one approx. 2 inches long) b/c we
thought that they were Turbos.
<<Not even close I’m afraid>>
(I know, not very smart) So now we are nervous as we don't know if these
guys are a danger to our fish or reef.
<<Not so much to healthy fish…but are a danger, yes>>
Does anyone know what exactly these guys are? Some sort of whelk, snail,
or conch?
<<Is the latter…more specifically, the Crown Conch (Melongena corona).
These gastropods are carnivorous…and while they would do a good job
cleaning up dead/dying animals and leftover meaty foodstuffs, they will
also prey on your other snails, substrate biota, and possibly sessile
invertebrates as they will surely not get enough to eat as they grow too
large for your system>>
Thanks so much for ANY help, it is greatly appreciated.
Kindest Regards,
Amie
<<Is a pleasure to assist. Eric Russell>> |
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What Is This!?! Nerite Snail Egg
Capsules 9/10/07
Ok.. I have a 90g tank.. and just moved across town.. and set up all
my rock/sand/water in new 90g tank with built in overflow...well...
needless to say the move made my tank angry.
<I'm sorry your tank is upset.>
and I am now getting over the wave of algae that happened.. but I am
finding a large amount of rust colored flat worms
<So long as they are not too big, they are generally beneficial
detritivores.>
(which I am taking care of)
<???>
and alot
<This is not a word. Should be “a lot”. I mention just for Bob, as it is
one of his pet peeves… Right RMF? ;) >
of these white hard disks I don't know where they came from if they are
related to the rust flatworms, or if they are a parasite or not.. take a
look and let me know please. As I said they are hard, white and cannot
be siphoned off of the rock.
<These are completely harmless Nerite Snail egg capsules, nothing to
worry about. You can read more about them here:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2003/invert.htm
Hope your tank gets happier! Mich> |
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Scutus pics
9/5/07
Hi,
<Make me smile>
If there are any Scutus fans out there, here are some fun pics I took of
one of mine. :)
Best,
Sara
<What did the Incredible Mr. Limpet say? Thrum!!! BobF> |
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New little
snail's ID needed... Possibly Heliacus snails – 08/31/07
<Greetings, Mich here.>
I have see a bunch of what I thought were baby snails. After 3 days of
reading your site and doing Google searches I'm beginning to worry that
they may be Heliacus areola.
<Sure do look like it I'm afraid, could be something else. Heliacus
snails have a small pagoda shaped operculum (trap door). You will need
to check for this as there is not this much detail in the photos.>
I would be internally <Externally too? Heehee!> grateful if you could
give me a positive ID. The first picture is from top it is about 1/4" in
size. The second picture is from under side. I will include links to 2
short video's 50sec each. In hopes that you can get a better view. If
you think they are Heliacus areola would you please tell me how to rid
my little 10 gal tank of them.
<In my world there are picker and non-pickers... hopefully you are a
picker if Heliacus is indeed what you have. Manual removal is about the
only option in this size tank... But at least it's only a ten gallon
tank!>
My Zoo's seem fine. And these snail's stay out all day and seem to be
feeding on algae on the tank glass and rocks.
<Mmm, may not be Heliacus sp., as these are typically nocturnal.>
I know there are 8 but with the magnifying glass it looks like I have
100+ or these things.
<Yikes!>
If they are good snails I should be able to get some of my money back
from my LFS.
<Yeaah... Good luck with that! Mich>
http://s200.photobucket.com/albums/aa92/emccullough1/?action=view¤t=810aed0e.flv
http://s200.photobucket.com/albums/aa92/emccullough1/?action=view¤t=6ccd02a0.flv
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Snail ID – Possible
Collonista Snail – 8/24/07
Good Morning WWM Crew!
<Good Morning Rusty, Brenda here>
Thank you for the tremendous resource that you provide to the community. I can't
count the number of hours I've spent reading your marine pages. Often just for
pleasure.
<Thank you! Glad you find it helpful and enjoyable!>
My tank is a 55g (w/20g sump/refugium) that hosts soft corals, two
Ocellaris, a Royal Gramma, some crabs, and soon a Coral Beauty after she
finishes her five weeks in fish-jail (quarantine).
<Keep an eye on the Coral Beauty. This fish has been known to nip on coral.>
My problem started a couple of months ago after I brought home some live rock
from a local aquarium being dismantled. The other tank was 4 years old and the
rock fully cured. I should have quarantined the rock, but I didn't think about
it. I think the rock hosted a few of these snails.
<This is not uncommon, and not necessarily a problem. Quarantine however, is
always recommended.>
The snails are small, the largest of the group less than a quarter inch in
diameter. They are brown and white, with the pattern often appearing like stripe
radiating from the "point" in the shell. They only seem to come out at night. At
first, there were only a few. I picked them off when I saw them. Now, there is
an explosion of the critters. The smallest are white and the size of a pin-head.
My pictures have been blurry at best. With this description, can you guess what
they might be?
<I can guess.>
Are they merely a pest or something dangerous?
<Possibly neither.>
Is there a way to trap them or perhaps something that might like them for lunch?
<Let us first try to figure out what you have. These may actually be a benefit
to your tank. The first thing that comes to my mind is a Collonista snail. These
are the good guys and are known to reproduce rapidly. More information here:
http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219. It may also be a Sundial
Snail, these are the bad guys:
http://www.thesea.org/reef_aquarium/pests/pests_snails.php. I’m guessing that
you have Collonista snails and you will want to keep them.>
Kind regards,
Rusty
<Hope this helps! Brenda>
Re: Snail Identification
7/25/07
Good morning from Alabama, Brenda.
<Hello Rusty!>
Thank you for the very quick reply!
<You’re very welcome!>
From the pictures, it looks very much like the link you gave me from Project
Dibs. It appears that they could be beneficial.
<That is great news!>
I really don't have any algae problem, but I do have a bit of green bubble macro
that I enjoy seeing in the tank.
I hate to bring up anything negative, but you might want to be careful with that
second link. It triggered my antivirus with the VBS.gaggle.d scripting
virus/worm. Someone may have placed something ugly on that page. Digital
Aiptasia, maybe? :)
<Yikes!!!! Thank you for pointing that out! Digital Aiptasia? LOL Great
Description!>
Thank you again for your selfless service! :)
<You’re welcome! Good luck with your tank! Brenda>
Kind regards,
Rusty
Invasion of
the isopods? – 8/19/07
A couple of questions tonight...
1. Saw these over the past couple days after the full lighting switches
off. Just ID'd a Bristleworm from WWM, but its a fairly small one, so
he's (she's?) safe for now. But these little guys have me a little more
worried, just because of the sheer number of them! Trap like a 1920's
era pelter, or not quite yet?
<From the picture in the other email its a Stomatella snail. Love those
things, completely safe and wonderful to watch. You'll enjoy them. You
have a bunch because you have a bunch of algae, if you want to get rid
of them send them to me. Mine are all gone.>
2. My tank is going through some troubles right now (46G FOWLR) due to
the water temperature being out of control, and I've been trying to get
that back in order. Our house doesn't have AC (it will next year!), and
we've just gone through 4 weeks of 30C weather which has raised the
average temperature to around 84F. I have a fan blowing across the
surface of the water, and I've dialed back the 10000k light a couple
hours a day. Any other suggestions? <I've been known to take fresh water
that has had prime added to it and put it in the ice cube maker and
after it freezes add it to the tank. I've also known people to put the
ice cubes in baggies so the water can't get out but I prefer to put the
prime in it because I figure I'm dealing with a lot of evaporation
anyway. Good luck, MacL>
Thanks!
Sean |
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Critter ID –
Gastropod Egg Mass – 08/07/07
Hi WWM Crew –
<<Hiya Bob>>
Long time visitor and fan!!
<<Excellent>>
After searching the photos and snail/critter forum I didn't find
anything describing the "thing" that appeared on the front glass of my
220gl reef tank overnight.
<<Oh? Looks to be snail eggs to me>>
I have not added any new livestock in two years with the exception of a
clean-up crew restock about 4 weeks ago (50 Nerites, 50 Nassarius, 50
Cerith snails, 50 Blue Leg Crab, 4 Serpent Stars). This morning when I
went to do my normal tank check, this worm looking thing was stuck to
the front glass. I'm assuming worm or snail eggs?
<<Is the latter...looks to me to be an egg mass from a Cerith Snail>>
The lights (1100wts total) have been on full for 3 hours and this thing
hasn't moved.
<<And it won’t...on its own>>
I couldn't get a clean picture even with macro zoom.
<<The picture was “good enough” in this instance>>
It is approx 2" X 2" in overall area on glass but this thing is curled
up in a bunch of "s" shapes so it would be much longer straightened out.
Tank population is:
1 Hippo Tang
1 Foxface
1 Koran Angel
Pair of Maroon Clowns (which have displayed mating behaviors in the
past)
1 Blue Devil
1 Yellowtail Damsel
1 Strawberry Dottyback
Thanks for any assistance!
Bob
<<Happy to help. EricR>> |
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