Snail ID help... Nassarius or Whelks with Pictures

I have a 110 gallon tank with a 55 gallon tank as a sump. It is a recent upgrade from a 75 gallon non drilled tank. but the system has been running for about 8 years. The system seems to be healthy, all water parameters are in check, tons of copepods & amphipods are thriving. All corals have great polyp extension and showing signs of growth. Other than finding a couple dead hermits, everything else seems to be running great. I am looking for help ID'in these baby critters and verification that the larger snails are in fact Nassarius snails.

I have recently purchased nassarius snails for the tank about a month - month and a half ago. I have included pictures of both the larger snails that I purchased and a baby that I have seen 4 or 5 of in the last 2 days. The babies appear to have the same coloration and similar shape as the grey and white striped one in the pictures. Their snout is white in color but hard to see in the photos because they are so small. Any help is appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to ID these little guys.

I am hoping that you can tell me that my larger snails are in fact Nassarius Snails, and if possible an ID on the babies would be much appreciated.

 

Welcome to 3reef,

I have included 2 links that should assist you.

Indo Pacific Snails

Aquarium Snails: Sea Snail Species and Aquatic Saltwater Snails

Member pagojoe is the resident expert and maybe they will stop by for a more definitive ID for the smaller snails.

 

The lighter two are Nassarius, not sure about the darker one.

PM pagojoe about them.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure all the big ones are Nassarius, although the dark one has a very truncated/rounded base and siphonal canal, similar to some of the Phos and Nassaria species, which are a little less certain as to their suitability as tank scavengers. The juvenile looks to be a young whelk, probably either Pollia, Cantharus, or Gemophos (they all used to be lumped under the genus Cantharus). I'd remove it if I were concerned about it growing up to predate on my other snails. I'd guess it would grow up to be Pollia fumosus, somewhat of a generalist predator that may kill and eat other snails. If it's not that species, it's almost certainly in the same family and subfamily.

Cheers,



Don

 

my nassarius snails look exactly the same. I have a dark one like you as well as a pure white one, seems they come in all colors. The small ones may be babies of the nassarius or snails that look similar to nassarius but do not burrow. Indo pacific farms call them Strombus maculatus or strombus grazers. They do not look like whelks to me though.