IDENTIFY ME PLEASE! Pics Included

[cobs00]

I bought this snail from NAFB a few weeks ago. I was told it is identified as a yellow spot snail. I have tried to get info about this snail on many sights but nothing comes close to any pics or the name "yellow spot snail". This particular snail is approximately 2 inch in shell and 3 inches in body. It likes to hide under the sand and is rarely seen. It has long tentacles and yellowish spots on his shell. Please help identify.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/cobs00/2-1.jpg
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/cobs00/1-2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/cobs00/3-1.jpg

[Pique]

It's a whelk, I think. Looks like the ones I've seen them over at Lotus's place. I think they posted a thread about them.

[Pique]

It reminds me of this guy;
http://aquariumpros.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=7626&d=1107670861

It's from this (http://aquariumpros.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=12748&highlight=whelk) thread.

[bru65]

Tagging along. I have the exact same snail and it's great for stiring the sand and eating detritus and any uneaten food.
I have always wondered what kind of snail this is. It's definitely reef safe though. :)

[TOA]

I have these (also from NAFB) and while they dont cause intentional harm they are VERY agressive eaters.

These suckers are mainly living in the substrate but as soon as they sense food they will erupt (not an understatement) out of the sand and goto town.

While I think they do a great job, they have a couple of draw backs that drives me nuts:

1) They can (and will) climb glass to eat algae attached to algae clips. (and they will eat ALL the algae available to them)
2) they fall whenever climbing glass and have a tendancy to knock over / hit things quite hard
3) When on glass they can leave "slime" (very thick noticable slime at that) which does not dissolve.

Aside from these these guys dont seem to go for any corals/inverts, they also seem pretty much immune to normal snail issues (ie they can flip themselves over, and crabs fear them..)

One Thing though - while I havent seen any really agressive behaviour in these guys - apparently they are: babylonia pallida. They are apparently preditory towards snails, clams and slugs. Thinking about my main tank I have lost ALOT of snails in comparison to my other tank... Hmmmmm...

If they we're half the size they would be just awesome...

[bru65]

I have these (also from NAFB) and while they dont cause intentional harm they are VERY agressive eaters.

These suckers are mainly living in the substrate but as soon as they sense food they will erupt (not an understatement) out of the sand and goto town.

While I think they do a great job, they have a couple of draw backs that drives me nuts:

1) They can (and will) climb glass to eat algae attached to algae clips. (and they will eat ALL the algae available to them)
2) they fall whenever climbing glass and have a tendancy to knock over / hit things quite hard
3) When on glass they can leave "slime" (very thick noticable slime at that) which does not dissolve.

Aside from these these guys dont seem to go for any corals/inverts, they also seem pretty much immune to normal snail issues (ie they can flip themselves over, and crabs fear them..)

One Thing though - while I havent seen any really agressive behaviour in these guys - apparently they are: babylonia pallida. They are apparently preditory towards snails, clams and slugs. Thinking about my main tank I have lost ALOT of snails in comparison to my other tank... Hmmmmm...

If they we're half the size they would be just awesome...

Heheh.. My thought exactly. :) I can always tell where that snail has been with that thick mucus slime trail. ;) I haven't noticed any harm to my clams, astrea snails or even those tiny little 1mm sized snails. I did notice that my Velvet nuibranchs disappeared within a few days of adding them. Hmmmmmm... :)

[Pique]

bru65, I don't know if I'd call them reef safe. Surfing through the link and sub links I posted I came across a letter from Dr. Ron;


from Dr. Ron on RC forum

Hi,

The animal is definitely not a Nassarius, and it is another example of a vendor misidentifying a dangerous animal as a benign one.

It is a species of Babylonia, probably B. pallida from the "greater Indonesia" area. They are predatory, but will scavenge when live foods are not available.

They will prefer to eat snails, clams, worms, and other meaty foods. They will probably not eat corals or sponges.

I don't consider them to be reef safe.


__________________
Cheers, Ron


If it looks like the snail I posted then I'd be careful, especially if you have clams. Maybe Lotus02 can shed more light on this. After all that is where I saw one (in a holding tank alone) and this has come from their posts.

[cobs00]

Well this puts the whole "whelk" thing to rest:

http://melevsreef.com/id/whats_a_whelk.html

[Pique]

Reading that and looking at the posts Lotus posted, as well as the replies by Dr. Ron, I'm not sure I'd use that to give an ID. I think the only to really know with any degree is to post the pics and have someone experienced ID it. I guess it'd give me an idea but I wouldn't risk my clam on it.

[Chrismo]

For what it's worth I have one of those snails and have for a long time (more than a year) and it appears to me to be reef safe, and attractive when it is visable.

I have 3 Giant clams in my tank, and a bunch of cleaner clams, and it completely ignores them. However, when I used to injure a cleaner clam so that my fish could eat it, the snail would then make a beeline for that clam and start to eat it. It would crawl right over the healthy ones to get to the dying one.

Same thing if I put a piece of cocktail shrimp in. The other 99 percent of the time, it remains under the sandbed.

Thats my experience with the "evil whelk".

Chris

[icyuod2]

if it really is reef safe, its not a whelk. :) whelks being carnivorous snails and all. :)

your image isnt showing up for me, but could it be a conche or cowrey?

[reefer madness]

Deffinately not a cowrie!

[cobs00]

Well I emailed Anthony Calfo and Marc Melev, and they are very certain that it is a large nassarius snail and absolutely not a whelk. Case Closed! Thanks for all the responses!

[Pique]

Nice to hear you got a positive ID on it. So many snails look like other snails that I'd be scared to get them mixed up. Looks like this guy would be an interesting addition. I think I'll stick to my little nassarius snails just for that mass 'rising from the dead' effect, and that thick mucus would bug me. This snail does look cool though.

[bru65]

Well I emailed Anthony Calfo and Marc Melev, and they are very certain that it is a large nassarius snail and absolutely not a whelk. Case Closed! Thanks for all the responses!

That's great to hear. Although mine has not caused me any problems, this definitely puts my mind at ease. :D