HELP! Snail identification

Little_Smudge

Little_Smudge

Member
Hey all,

So I spotted this rather elegant looking snail in my Reef aquarium, however it looked through the forums and been online and just can’t seem to nail down an identification.

It’s only small, maybe 10mm in length and spends most time on the living rock.

Here is a photo
5F7FD956-5BE1-46AC-A0E9-B3783341DFDB.jpeg

Thanks in advance for any help received

Kind regards

Little smudge
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
It most likely is a hitchhiker with your rock, can you tell me where your rock is from? Do you know where in the world your rock was pulled from the ocean? With over 40,000 known species of snails, they aren't the easiest thing to ID. ID'ing snails is easier if it can be narrowed down to ocean basins.

At first glance, it looks like a whelk. When I zoom in your pic becomes blurry and I can't make out details. I would highly recommend you look into the various whelk species online and match it, as whelks are predatory snails, and some whelk prey on corals.
 
Little_Smudge

Little_Smudge

Member
Great thank you

I will search that specific snail species. Not entirely sure where the living rock came from originally and I’ve not put any new rock in for about 2 months.
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
I'm sure the snail came in with the first batch of rock that you got and survived all this time. You may find all sorts of other critters as time goes on.
 
Little_Smudge

Little_Smudge

Member
Yep I’ve had plenty since the tank was established. Never seen this little fella before though.

I’m currently having a search for the Welch as you suggested. The shell is a beautiful shell, very simpler to the ones you find on beaches and can buy in shops, just very much smaller haha
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
I think you need to start with knowing the identifying features of marine snails. From there you can determine if your snail fits the various types of whelk shells found around the world. There are so many snails is can be hard to ID them.

I'd also take notes on the snail in your tank. Does it come out during the day or night. Can you see it eating anything or is it just cruising around *looking for food*? Does it seem interested in anything in particular (e.g. fish, other snails, the various items growing on your rocks or in your sand? If so, what is it eating. Does it spend most of its time on the rocks or on the sand bed?

Answering these questions may also help in the snails identification. Or at the least help to determine if it is a snail that you can keep or should pull out of the tank.
 
Little_Smudge

Little_Smudge

Member
Yep brilliant

I’m keeping a log of what’s its doing etc etc and trying to get a better photo

So far it spends a lot of time on the living rock near a small patch of green algae, prior to that he was on the sandbed just walking around.
 
Uncle99

Uncle99

Well-Known Member
IN the beginning, I thought hitchhikers were like cracker jacks, not sure what you would get. All these things showing up months after purchase was fascinating. The problem was that are many hitchhikers that I didn't want especially crabs, worms, snails of unknown origin.

When I restarted my tank 2 years ago, I never used live rock, this time I used dry rock from Carib-Sea, it's dry, but is quite purplish from the store.
I cycled with this and since then each and every addition is checked, dipped, QT'd for 30 days, dipped again, then and only then, does it make it to the DT.

Now I am never again in the position to have to remove something (which at times was next to impossible). Crabs are the worst, since many are trouble.

I have found live rock to be more trouble than it's worth....and is usually not kept correctly at the LFS.
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
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Little_Smudge

Little_Smudge

Member
Thank you mate - they are they kind of ones I was looking at the other day, but wasn’t sure as it’s so small. I’ll keep an eye on it and gets some more photos as it gets bigger.

Thank you again for your response
 
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