Snail I.D. Predator??

I got a mix of snails from my LFS and all of them i had seen before except one. It looks bad...has a long black nose that comes out of the shell and nothing i can see for a mouth so i dont think it eats algae. Can someone I.D this so i can do something with it?? i had put it in my DT but soon realized it was different and pulled it out. It had started to burry its self in the sand and had the nose sticking out. I have seen on T.V snails that hunt fish so can someone tell me is it safe??

 

That's a Nassarius Snail. A good sand-sifter and cleaner.

Cheers

 

ya i agree its a nassarious snail you will see there noses sticking out of the sand then at night or when you feed it will smell the food and if you have a bunch they all pretty much come out of the sand at once there really cool

 

Totally not a nassarius. I think that's a whelk. Predatory on mollusks.

What size is this snail?

 

+1 on Nassarius snail. They're funny little sand stirrers.
Good find IMO.

- Mag.

 

Interesting argument...It's either one of the Nassarius species that looks a lot like a whelk, or one of the whelk species that looks a lot like a Nassarius. There are only a handful of snails that fit this category. Can you take it out and get a pic of the side with the opening, with that animal withdrawn? That will probably give you the best chance of getting it ID'ed accurately.

Cheers,



Don

 

i believe it to be a super tongan nassarius

 

That's what I thought. That's why a provided a link that shows them, along with some info. I'd certainly never go back to an LFS that gave me a Whelk in a cleaner pack.

Cheers

 

Neither would I lol. I just got some of these whelks on my live rock when I started, that look exactly like these guys. Gradient on the snout, the shell shape and color, long foot, all match up to the whelks I had.

 

Do Whelks burrow in the sand? Don't sound like a good place to hunt for fish, especially when you're as slow as a snail. LOL

BTW, I do have Nassarius snails. They look identical to his.