Haven't seen you before....

I'm thinking its a canthardid whelk, I'll keep an eye on the couple snails I have see if they disappear, other wise danger to Lps?

 

On the bright side, nope, it's not a whelk, although it looks almost exactly like a Cantharus/Pollia/Gemophos species, as you suggested. It's probably an ergalataxine muricid, maybe Ergalatax margariticola. They reportedly feed on polychaetes, small crustaceans, and other molluscs. Here's a link that shows the species, along with a couple other relatives that are misidentified as this species:

Ergalatax margariticola

edit: Looking at the bottom pic, it may actually be a Chicoreus species, rather than Ergalatax. It's definitely a muricid, though. Compare to:

http://www.gastropods.com/8/Shell_2938.shtml

Cheers,



Don

 

What am I NOT seeing here in those pics?

 

Cheers Don, spot on its a ergalatax, took it out of the water last night to get a closer look at it an clean the shell off abit to see the colors, it's exactly the one in the first link. The shell is much less "spiky" than that of the second link.

Ill get some better pictures up next time I see it.

Will it munch on coral mantles? I don't have any clams seeing as I have a Toby

 

Haha, just for an updates sake (and for you Todd) here is a better picture.





Don, would you confirm its an ergatalax?

Again what would be the dangers in a closed environment?

Merci