Help ID... Whelk?

[SteveVT_MSE]

So I've had a problem recently with snails only lasting a couple days to a couple weeks and emerald crabs not lasting long as well... Then I stumbled upon an article about whelks and I remembered that there was, what I originally thought, a nassarius snail that had hitchhiked on a piece of live rock. It was extremely small when I first noticed it and got much larger. Well needless to say I finally found it this evening and do believe it is a whelk. Just wanted to check to see what others thought.

Thanks!
-Steve

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Yeah, that looks like it could be a whelk.

 

[SteveVT_MSE]

Any idea if a banded sea star would eat the whelk? Or does the whelk stand a chance to harm/eat the star? I have a ~8-10" star in my refugium that I might try to feed it to but don't want to risk losing the star if it's a bad idea.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I honestly have no idea.

 

[TheEngineer]

Do you see holes in the shells of the snails that have died?

 

[SteveVT_MSE]

Do you see holes in the shells of the snails that have died?

Honestly, never inspected them much.