shellless snail?

sedecatur

New Member
OK Im new to saltwater, but i thought i new enough to no that snails keep there shells, so what happened? I came home yesterday to find one of my Nassarius Snails climbing the back wall of the tank with no shell :weird: . He was doing it like nothing was wrong. I think i found his shell in front of the rock, shortly there after I watched him start to burry himself in the sand Just like normal. So any takes on what happened. He is still alive today but in my quarentien tank, I moved him and the shell yesterday. Is this normal? will it go into another shell like a hermit. My levels are all normal except my calcium which is about 380. Thanks all
 

BigJay

Well-Known Member
from NassariusF

BoB fenner said:
The snail who left his shell 3/29/07
Howdy,
<Hey there>
Here's a weird one for you. Today I noticed one of the Jumbo Nassarius Snails in my 180g Reef seems to have left his shell. No signs of trauma. He is still alive and moving around somewhat strangely, but not sickly or injured. I even found his shell, and it's in perfect shape. Water parameters are all fantastic, no known snail predators present. There are two Tunze stream pumps that I wonder if they could have shucked him.
<Mmm, not w/o grinding up the soft body>
Otherwise, I don't know. Have you ever heard of this happening before?
<Mmmm, yes... from overt dire water chemistry (big, fast shifts in alkalinity mostly), and parasites of the snail invading their shells...>
and if so, what was the cause? Everything else, corals, fish and inverts look great and are doing well..
<Perhaps this last>
Thanks, love your site. Check out the picture, I hope I shrunk it down small enough to avoid crashing your server.
Mike
<Yes, thank you... Perhaps this "slug" will regenerate a new shell... Bob Fenner>
 

sedecatur

New Member
I just tried to get pics but they didnt come out very well sorry. The snail is doing good, Like i said its in the quar. tank Climbing the walls like nothing happened. I done expect it will make it but Im giving it a fighting chance, (nothing in there to bother or eat it) Is it possibile for it to regrow a shell over time? Im still working on building up the calcium levels, I cant seem to get them up, :banghead: Ill keep trying to get a decent pic to post, It has to be feeling weird with out that shell LOL
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
BoB fenner said:
Have you ever heard of this happening before?
<Mmmm, yes... from overt dire water chemistry (big, fast shifts in alkalinity mostly)

Im still working on building up the calcium levels, I cant seem to get them up, :banghead:


Could we be onto something here?

I think you've in a round about way answered your own question here.

What are your current water test results and what have you done thus far to correct any "issues".
 

Copepod

New Member
I'm 80% certain a snail cannot live without its shell. If it can...it wouldn't be living long. Slugs and snails are different. A snails "skin" or mantle is attached to the shell which houses it's visceral mass (vital organs). A snail can repair a shell, but can't regenerate a whole new one. You probably have a stomatella (like Dentoid said) or you now have a dead snail. A nudibranch is highly unlikely, but possible I guess.

Good Luck with your water chemistry.


Here is an example.
snail_biology.jpg
 
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