Bumble bee snails

Is it true that these snails eat flat worms?

 

I used to have them in my 90 gal. and I've seen them keep the flatworm population low. Not sure if it was just mine but I'm pretty sure it's part of their diet.

 

We kept a few BB's for several years, altho I can't say I noticed if they ate FW's...they must not have eaten them very much, as there were a few instances of FW's. It may be species-specific, and only certain ones are on the menu.

I suppose you could give it a shot, but they will eat the beneficial microfauna in your tank as well.

 

No, they don't eat flatworms, but they may eat small vermetids and some tiny tube worms.



Don

 

Hmm very interesting.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

I gave kind of a brief answer since I was on break at work, but I'll try to clarify for you guys a little. In the wild, Engina mendicaria lives in the cracks of rocks and under rocks in the intertidal zone, most often where the water is active, at least at high tide. They are often clustered on rocks above the low tide line, areas that normally have abundant little tube worms and vermetid snails for them to feed on. They should be capable of killing and eating other tiny snails also, although they don't seem to actively hunt. It might be possible that one might eat a flatworm, but in the wild, the flatworms are found in totally different habitat from Engina mendicaria (different substrate, different water conditions), so this is probably a very unlikely part of their diet. It's also conceivable that they might be capable of scavenging meaty scraps, but since they aren't nearly as mobile as something like a Nassarius, this is also unlikely. I know some of the websites say they will eat algae and detritus, but this is certainly untrue, as they are obligate carnivores like most of the buccinids. They probably don't do much harm in a reef tank, but don't really function as part of the cleanup crew. They are attractive in any case, at least when they aren't hiding, and make pretty good tank decoration.

Cheers,



Don

 

Thanks for the very informative reply, shame really as i do have a few flatworms & acquired a bumble bee snail as a free hitchiker...