What kind of snails are these?

Are they reef safe? Stores around here sell turbo grazers and margaritas for $2-$3 a piece. I happened to go to a seafood store who had these mysterious snails for $2.50/lb. I picked up a dozen for 60 cents.;D That coin in the picture is a quarter so they're much bigger than the turbos or the margaritas.

 

Probably going to have to have some apertural views to ID those, since they are so encrusted. The shape is typical of several fresh and brackish water species, although it does look like they came from saltwater judging by the encrustations.

Do you know where they were collected? In what town did you buy them?

Cheers,



Don

 

OK, considering that there aren't too many marine shells shaped like that, and the fact that they are apparently edible, and grow to be larger than a quarter...I'll make a guess, even without apertural views. They are probably littorinids, also called Periwinkles. If you are on the east coast of the U.S. or Canada, or the west coast of Europe, the species is probably Littorina littorea. Most of the pics you can find on the net are of super clean, brightly colored variations, but the normal ones are usually at least somewhat encrusted, and are often dark brown or black. Does this look like yours?

Common Periwinkle Picture - Littorina littorea - Photo of a Common Periwinkle

Littorina (Littorina) littorea

If they are, they may not really thrive at reef tank temperatures, but they are algae eaters, so they should be reef safe.

Cheers,




Don