Nassarius Snail ID

So I know it is a nassarius snail, but I have only seen one like this ever. Any clues or is this guy just been exposed to radiation? When I first got this godzilla snail, it never showed itself and many times thought is was dead. All the other normal nassarius's used to gang up on it as soon as it came out. So it stayed hidden most of the time. Now this thing is as acitve as anything in the tank. No complaints just curious...

 

super tongan, perhaps?

 

Super Tongan would also be my guess.

 

Do that bury themselves like a nassarius?

 

I don't think it's a super tongan. I think its a wester mud nassarius. Where'd it come from?

 

I got it at one of my local LFS's. When I asked the guy who sold it me said it was just a normal nassarius, just bigger then normal.

 

As a new comer I bought some nassarius vibex on ebay. It was like 50 for 2 bucks or something like that. Turns out what I really bought was a bunch of Whelks. So I bought a book on shell id of N. American saltwater snails so that would never happen again. Your snails color and shell pattern looks real close to the pics of the western mud nass. John Maloney would know for sure. You could post a pic on reefcleaners sponsor forum here on 3reef.

 

Ilyanassa obsoleta.

 

Those things (I. obsoleta) come in the thousands if not millions where I am from. All it takes is a flashlight and a walk in the inlets to see how many there are. The whole sand bed is coated. Makes me wonder what they eat to reproduce so quickly.

Looking at the picture, I am not so sure that is what it is. The I. obsoleta I have seen are generally the same size as the N. vibex snails, just a different color (black with tan and white) and generally rounder. In the picture it looks more pointed and quite a bit larger. But then again, the color may be off in the pic!

Supposedly they may harm your tank as well.
Do You Know Who You

 

yes. contact John Maloney (reefcleaners.org) and he should be able to id.