Nassarius Obsoleta

inwall75 · Sep 19, 2006

90_Berlin_joe said:

This is false, nassarius snails will go anywhere there is food. I have 40 in my 90gal and could add more. I believe it all depends on the amount of sand you have and bio-load. Keep in mind that 100 will easily turn into 300 then 900 then 2700 if you are not careful.
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Then you don't have Nassarius either. You likely have Strombus maculatas. Their eggs don't go through a planktonic stage and reproduce readily while Nassarius go through a planktonic stage. You would have to have an unskimmed tank that was absolutely filthy for these to reproduce.

Do you see egg sacks like this on your glass/rock? If so, it is most likely Strombus spp.

http://static.flickr.com/35/118429792_62814ad8f6_m.jpg

inwall75 · Sep 19, 2006

BTW...Welcome to 3reef Crappyballer!!!

k9BOLX · Sep 20, 2006

I have tons of these egg sacks on my glass, but i never see any small snails. I gradually see the white dots dissapear from the sacks though. Is there anything i can do to encourage the reproduction of these in my tank?

inwall75 · Sep 20, 2006

k9BOLX said:

I have tons of these egg sacks on my glass, but i never see any small snails. I gradually see the white dots dissapear from the sacks though. Is there anything i can do to encourage the reproduction of these in my tank?
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Not really unless you want tons of algae covering everything. The egg-sacks from the family of Nassariidae and Strombidae are quite similar. However, Nassriidae are usually more full. With Strombus snails, you will get babies. With Nassarius snails you won't. While in the planktonic stage, the Nassarius will need to be fed and won't do well with powerheads nor protein skimmers. Some Strombus snails don't have a planktonic stage. Even within the Strombidae family, there's differences. If you threw a bunch of conchs into your tank, your unlikely to get baby conchs.

inwall75 · Nov 22, 2006

I have been harping on this issue for years on probably about 10 different Reefing Boards.

FINALLY, there is a decent article about this confusion. Do You Know Who You’re Dealing With? Get to Know the Real Ilyanassa obsoleta by Mike Greenemeier - Reefkeeping.com

So, if they aren't really reef snails, what about the claims that they are "totally reef safe," "eat detritus and most forms of algae" and "will not attack any of your population" (as seen on eBay listings)? Well, as you may have guessed, they aren't entirely accurate, either. Ilyanassa is an omnivore. A large part of Ilyanassa's diet is indeed made up of algae and algal detritus. However, it is selective, preferring certain types of diatoms rather than indiscriminately gobbling up any algae (Connor and Edgar, 1982; Connor et al., 1982). They also require meat in their diet to survive and reproduce (Curtis and Hurd, 1979; Hurd, 1985). This meat comes primarily from carrion and predation on sandbed fauna, including other snails (Race, 1982). Besides direct predation on sandbed life, Ilyanassa's foraging is so disruptive that in areas where they are found, amphipods, copepods and worms that would normally be present are absent (Dewitt and Levinton, 1985; Hunt et al., 1987; Kelaher et al., 2003). To me, this hardly sounds "totally reef safe," and is especially troubling if you utilize a sand bed as a filter or food source for mandarin dragonets (Synchiropus spp.) or similar fish.

Ilyanassa is such an effective competitor that in areas where it has been introduced, such as San Francisco Bay, it has forced out native species and completely disrupted ecosystems. Tidal flats that once housed diverse assemblages of snails, worms and crustaceans are now monocultures of literally billions of Ilyanassa (Race, 1982). Outside of its natural range, this snail is considered an extremely damaging pest. Virtually nothing eats them in large enough numbers to reduce their population, and at this stage in the game, humans can do little to control them. The threat of their accidental introduction into new areas makes the trend of shipping large numbers of these snails throughout the country even more troubling.
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