ID carnivore of a snail!

Hey All,

Could someone ID this snail for me please? I found it during lights out munching on a stomatella!







you'll have to excuse the quality - it was late and it slipped my mind to put the camera in night mode

 

I'm not sure but is it a Tulip snail?

 

Hi Phoenix,

It's a true buccinid whelk, in the genus Pisania. There are several species in this family that aren't depicted on the net, and some disagreement about this particular species. It is one of what I believe is several species being lumped under the name Pisania fasciculata. As you've discovered, it's a predatory snail. The lower shell in the link below would look a lot like yours if it were less faded and eroded:

Pisania (Pisania) fasciculata

Cheers,



Don

 

I have a snail similar to this, except his shell is black and white, and more rigid than smooth. I only see him eating algae and detritus.. is this possibly one of these kinds of snails?

 

i caught a snail like that and it murdered my conchs

 

what about zoas? I'm gonna take a pic when I get home, and take him out. His body is a black and white mottled color. Grows fast

 

agree with pagojoe

 

Wow thanks! I loved the answer too - are you an expert in this field?!

 

Predatory snail that is very bad for a reef aquarium especially.

 

I'm not an expert on buccinids in particular, but I spent some time trying to sort out the Indo-Pacific Pisania species some years ago. Yours actually looks like a partially-banded Pisania jenningsi, which is probably what the lower species actually is under the P. fasciculata link (P. jenningsi is normally darker than yours). They all pretty much behave the same, though...i.e., they eat other snails.

Cheers again,



Don