Any good snail ID links out there

I was looking for a good snail ID thread,
anyone know a good one?
I think I got these http://reefers.org/album/images/th_3583_106454.JPG

 

those are pyramid snails (Pyramidellidae Family). They go after clams and other snails.

 

In addition to pyramidellids, some of the rissoids look very much like that. They are harmless. If you see your tiny snails hanging out on the glass and the sand, and not hanging off your clams or snails (mainly big, slow snails like Astraea and Turbo species) they are probably rissoids. Dr. Shimek wrote a good article about how to tell the difference between similar species in the two families, but you have to look at the earliest whorls (protoconch) under high magnification to tell the difference. In rissoids, the earliest whorls are in the same plane as the teleoconch, or the rest of the shell. In pyramidellids, the protoconch appears to be vertical, being ninety degrees off of the body whorls of the shell.

Identify This... Rissoid And Pyramidellid Snails - Reef Hobbyist Online Magazine

I couldn't get all the photos on the linked page to come up, but maybe it will be working soon. A rule of thumb is that the shell outline is often slightly convex in the small rissoids, while it's usually straight in the nuisance pyramidellids. In addition, if you hold the shell spire-up, the lips of most rissoids bulge outward in convex fashion, like this:

http://www.gastropods.com/9/Shell_12499.html

while those of the pyramidellids are more nearly straight.

Cheers,



Don

 

Here are some links that might help you ID small snails you find in your tank. If you can get some macro pics and then compare them on the computer, it makes it a lot easier than eyeballing it. I notice that most of the small pyramidellids haven't made it to the net so far, but these should give you an idea of what you are looking for.

Good Guys:

Shell Catalogue - Family RISSOIDAE RISSOININAE

Potentially Bad Guys:

Shell Catalogue - Family PYRAMIDELLIDAE TURBONILLINAE TURBONILLINI
Shell Catalogue - Family PYRAMIDELLIDAE ODOSTOMIINAE CHRYSALLIDINI
Shell Catalogue - Family PYRAMIDELLIDAE

Amamimormula belonis, figured on the last link above, is one of the species that shows up in reef tanks fairly often. It looks white instead of brown when the shell contains no dead animal remains.

Cheers again,


Don

 

SUre got that rite

Thanks for the help there pagojoe saved me some leg work LOL.
Karma too ya.
I dont have any other snails persay just a stommella, I also dont have any clams but they are multiplying away might be time for a cull.
Ill see if my cam will get close enought to get a clear pic soon!

 

checkout gastropod.org or .com, forgot which one.

 

Wetwebmedia.com has some good snail id archives.

On a different note The Sea Slug Forum - Home Page is a really good place to locate ids on sea hares and nudibranchs.

 

so I belive that they are the following Rissoina (Phosinella) dunkeriana seems to be to most closest in the pics their hard to realy say without a microscope

 

Cool! They should be harmless little residents then.

Cheers,



Don