Do olive snails eat Nassarius snails?

I brought home about 20 nassarius vibex the other day, the lights were off by the time i finished acclimating them but when I added them I could have sworn I saw an olive snail come up and consume one in a quick swoop, then last night I saw an olive snail chasing around a nassarius, he kicked away but I swear he was being hunted? So does it happen from time to time or are they a part of their diet?

 

I don't believe that Olive snails are that aggressive nor do they consume other snails, from what I've read!

 

That's what I thought, even though I just saw an olive snail chasing another nassarius.

 

OK, dumb question here. What on earth is an olive snail?

Anne

 

I had the same question as I have watched on multiple occasions my olive snails come out of the sand and "hunt" smaller snails. The red leg & blue leg crabs don't pay the olive snail any attention. The smaller snails flee... use their foot to kick away and the olive snail follows...

So I researched and found this:

What do they eat? Olive snails are predators. They feed on other snails, small crustaceans and also scavenge on dead animals. An Olive snail remains in the sand while it sticks its siphon above the surface. When it 'smells' suitable prey, it emerges to engulf the prey with its foot, smothering it with slime and then dragging it beneath the sand to be eaten at leisure.

Olive shell snails (Olividae) on the Shores of Singapore

 

Yep, they are very effective snail predators. They don't kill every snail they chase (the FIRST time) but they'll eventually catch most of your snails. The ones I kept (Oliva sericea and Oliva miniacea) seemed to prefer the small conchs over Nassarius species, but since the Nassarius hide so well, it's hard to tell how many you have left other than counting empty shells in the tank. Olives can be extremely aggressive and are super fast, "flying" rather than crawling across the sand, when they are in pursuit of prey.

 

Flying is a good way to describe it! We have not seen them catch another snail yet... but we keep watching!

 

For Anne:

live oliva sayana - Google Image Search

The top row, except for the first image, shows examples of living Olive Snails. Most of the species grow to about two inches in length, though there are quite a few smaller species. A couple species may reach four inches. They are very glossy and some are colorfully patterned (and olive slime will make your lips numb if you wipe your mouth with a slimy glove ) They smell like black pepper....

Cheers,



Don

 

Don has been closer to his than I have!

; )

Haven't touched mine since I placed them in my little ole aquarium.

 

+1 to olives being predatory....they keep coming up in the hobby after a little break...sucks they will eat your CUC, they look cool though