Tiny clear/white sacks, difficult to ID

jaidexl

New Member
I've been searching for days, but these things are racking my brain. They are attached firmly at one end to the glass and are about a millimeter in size. They're rubbery and if I try to rub them off I can squeeze the nucleus out (someone just warned me about squishing things in a reef tank). They look like egg sacks but as far as we know there are only Astrea and Nassarius snails in the tank and their clutches don't match, I've been searching in the dark but see nothing else but little fan worms and pods. The pics aren't that great but you can see how scattered the clusters are, non-mobile, close to the surface and powerhead flow. I have pretty good eyes so I was able to get about five inches from them and still focus. From what I can see, I was able to make the last pic up. I know someone here has to have seen these before or can head me in a better direction with my searching. Thanks in advance for any of your wisdom. :)

(these are stuck on the front glass, not the powerhead)
eggs1xi2.jpg


eggs2js0.jpg


(the 'horns' in this image are just my depiction of tiny white dots I'm seeing where they are attached to the glass, they sway in the current like purse sponges)
eggscopyio2.jpg
 

rDr4g0n

Well-Known Member
i have tons of similar looking thingies in my tank. it must be mating season for snails! i have about 20 nassarius vibex, and 2 mexican turbos... i have a few hitchiker snails, but they are tiny. 99% chance this came from teh nassarius snails since they are the only snails in my tank numerous enough to produce so many egg sacks.

heres my thread about the same thing http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...ssion/17532-ultra-tiny-eggsacks-my-glass.html

a pic i took of mine
eggsack.jpg


and a link i found that may have some info Aquarium Invertebrates
 

woolfe

Active Member
I watched my nassarius snails lay these. When I look through a magnifying glass I can see some teeny tiny snails that have already hatched. Is hatched the right term?
I also have those egg sacks in my tank but haven't been able to see who puts them there.
 

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wetpresidents

New Member
my 150 fowlr has those things covering almost a 1/3 of my tank. i dont really visit this site alot but am happy to have found this thread. i find it hard to believe that those all came from my one turbo snail. does n e 1 know the most effective/effiecent way to get them off. it really is unpleasing to look at like my puffer as kicking up a bunch of sand
 

jaidexl

New Member
I finally found this image after removing the word 'vibex' from my search term (silly how the simplest word can botch things up), the caption says it's a nassarius. The shell looks like an astrea at first, but after close examination of the foot and lower shell of both my astrea and nassarius snails in comparison to this pic, I agree that is a nassarius but the image is likely inverted.

450nassariuseggsbj6.jpg
 

rDr4g0n

Well-Known Member
i agree. looks exactly like the pics weve taken, and the only snails taht are numerous enough to produce the quantity of egg sacks that are in my tank, are the nassarius snails i have.
 

jaidexl

New Member
the only snails taht are numerous enough to produce the quantity of egg sacks that are in my tank, are the nassarius snails i have.
Me too, and mine are forever cruising the surface where all those eggs are, I'm just waiting to catch one in the act.

Kinda strange, there must be some pretty significant species variants for them to also create those large clusters like the one that woolfe posted, those are the clusters that I first found online that led me to suspect something else was the culpret. Maybe those are the 'super nasarius' or something.
 
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