Tiny snail ID - calling pagojoe!! :)

Discussion in 'ID This!' started by gabbagabbawill, Apr 12, 2011.

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  1. gabbagabbawill

    gabbagabbawill Pajama Cardinal

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    I have two kinds of very small snails in my tank. I had no idea there were this many until I looked at the tank tonight with the lights off. So, can someone please help me positively identify them and tell me if they could be potentially harmful or not?

    The first snail is easier to see in the pictures. It is cone shaped and there are lots of these that seemingly like to come out at night. They are covering this hermits shell and there were quite a few on the glass.

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]


    The second snail, there aren't as many of. They are a similar size, but round instead of cone shaped.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Hopefully these pictures will help. I only have my iPhone, which is not so great with macro shots.

    Thanks!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  3. Erik72

    Erik72 Astrea Snail

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    Following along...I have hunderds of the snails in the first pic in my tank also.
     
  4. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    Don't buy any clams until the pyramid (Pyramidellidae) population is gone.

    Most wrasses in the Halichoeres Genus will eat them but make sure you read up on their other characteristics first. I find it easy to just pick them off the glass at night.
     
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  5. Renee@LionfishLair

    Renee@LionfishLair 3reef Sponsor

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    Gabba, where do you live? Any chance you could mail me some if them by mail? I'd take care of costs, of course.


    ----------------
    Sent from Tapatalk, so please forgive grammar and spelling :)
     
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  6. M-Ocean Man

    M-Ocean Man Flame Angel

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    Incognito - I am in NJ and would be glad to help get rid of some of these - at night the Nerite/Cerith snails are covered in them near their operculum. Easy to see how these little guys are no good to clam mantels!


    InWall are you saying these little guys will die off on their own? Or need active control?
     
  7. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    They are annoying. The little vampires will kill snails and clams. Unfortunately, they will also eat microalgaes so even if you don't have a clam or a bunch of snails, they can still survive.
     
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  9. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    Your second snail is probably colonista snails and they are good.

    Definitely go with Inwall's suggestion and remove the little vampires.
     
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  10. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    I didn't read the whole post nor look at the second picture. I would second 2in10's recommendation.
     
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  11. pagojoe

    pagojoe Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    Well, everyone beat me to it, and most likely answered your questions correctly. The little round turbo-looking snails should be Collonista or Homalopoma species, which are algal grazers. The others are a bit harder. I'm sure you've read Dr. Shimek's article on how to tell rissoids from pyramidellids, but it amounts to whether the protoconch (earliest whorls) are in the same plane as the teleoconch (rest of the whorls), or are 90 degrees from them. Same plane=good (rissoids) and 90 degrees out=bad (pyramidellids). Your pics puzzle me a bit, because I've never seen pyramidellids attempt to parasitize a crabbed shell. It could be that they are eating the algae off it? That said, there are more species that look like yours that are parasitic than not. You'd need a super macro pic of the spire of one of them to tell for sure.

    Cheers,



    Don
     
  12. Renee@LionfishLair

    Renee@LionfishLair 3reef Sponsor

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    If he sends some to me, he'll have a nice macro pic :)
     
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