Help ID

Vezos · Dec 24, 2023

Hey guys,
Ordered a pair of clown fish and a pair of hermit crabs. One of the crabs turned out to be a snail, unable to identify either. Any help would be appropriate.

Apologies for the unclear image, should have taken a picture before placing it in the tank. The snail has a similar shell as that of the crab, it has a green colored belly and it buried itself as soon as it hit the sand.

KrisReef · Dec 24, 2023

Not sure on either id, but if the snail has a larger shell than the hermit then I'd keep a close watch on them both as the hermit grows....

@ISpeakForTheSeas - Do you recognize these?

Vezos · Dec 24, 2023

KrisReef said:
Not sure on either id, but if the snail has a larger shell than the hermit then I'd keep a close watch on them both as the hermit grows....

@ISpeakForTheSeas - Do you recognize these?

Thanks! I have a couple of dead snail shells lying around in the tank, hope that's enough to deter the crab from attacking the snail.

ISpeakForTheSeas · Dec 24, 2023

KrisReef said:
Not sure on either id, but if the snail has a larger shell than the hermit then I'd keep a close watch on them both as the hermit grows....

@ISpeakForTheSeas - Do you recognize these?

Not right off the bat. The hermit is almost certainly a Clibanarius sp., but I'll need clearer pics of the eyestalks and claws to say which (some side pics of the head/leg would help too). As is, there are four species I know that look close, but either the eyestalks, the antennae, or both look slightly off on most of them from what I can tell. Regardless, it will almost certainly reach ~1" to 1.5" max (so it shouldn't be a problem).

For the snail, I'd need better pics (full length shots of the top, the sides, and preferably the bottom of the snail's shell too), but I'd guess either a Nassarius species or a predatory snail.

Vezos · Dec 26, 2023

@ISpeakForTheSeas the snail seems to be nocturnal, it's on and about after the light turns off. Saw him on the glass late at night. Got a picture of its belly. Hope this helps in identifying it.

kevgib67 · Dec 26, 2023

Vezos said:
@ISpeakForTheSeas the snail seems to be nocturnal, it's on and about after the light turns off. Saw him on the glass late at night. Got a picture of its belly. Hope this helps in identifying it.

Where did you order from? I would assume if you contact the business you purchased them from the would know the ID of what they sell. I know TBS is good at responding when people contact them about an unknown hitchhiker.

Vezos · Dec 26, 2023

kevgib67 said:
Where did you order from? I would assume if you contact the business you purchased them from the would know the ID of what they sell. I know TBS is good at responding when people contact them about an unknown hitchhikkevgib67

kevgib67 said:
Where did you order from? I would assume if you contact the business you purchased them from the would know the ID of what they sell. I know TBS is good at responding when people contact them about an unknown hitchhiker.

@kevgib67 I ordered it from a local distributor, he told me these are generic local hermit crabs that's it.

ISpeakForTheSeas · Dec 26, 2023

Vezos said:
@ISpeakForTheSeas the snail seems to be nocturnal, it's on and about after the light turns off. Saw him on the glass late at night. Got a picture of its belly. Hope this helps in identifying it.

Yeah, I'd need a top-down, straight-on shot of the top/back of the shell and some straight-on shots of the side(s) too, but that's a great pic, and I love the pattern on the foot and head here - cool-looking snail!

kevgib67 · Dec 26, 2023

Vezos said:
@kevgib67 I ordered it from a local distributor, he told me these are generic local hermit crabs that's it.

Oh, I didn’t realize where you live at. Hold tight some very smart people on here. Just recently I saw the first thread where the experts were stumped. First time in over two years I’ve been on this forum and there are multiple id requests a day.

Vezos · Dec 30, 2023

Found a dead clown fish stuck at the mouth of the snail. Chucked the snail in the sump for now. Here are some more pictures you asked for @ISpeakForTheSeas

kjkszpj9 · Dec 30, 2023

Vezos said:
Found a dead clown fish stuck at the mouth of the snail. Chucked the snail in the sump for now. Here are some more pictures you asked for @ISpeakForTheSeas

Looks like a whelk to me, even though nassarius snails are whats called "dog whelks" this guy definetly looks like an actual Whelk to me.

ISpeakForTheSeas · Dec 30, 2023

Yeah, I'd say to take a good look through some Phrontis vibex pics (P. vibex seems to be pretty variable from the pics, so I'd suggest looking through quite a few to be safe), and if you don't think that's a match, then it's almost certainly a predatory species (probably some kind of "Drill/Oyster Drill" like Urosalpinx cinerea).

Regardless, I can tell you this snail would not have killed a healthy clownfish (I honestly doubt it's physically capable of killing even a sick one) - so something killed your clown and this snail just took advantage of the opportunity to feed on it.

Edit: Regardless of what kind it is, you can probably feed it bivalves (oysters, clams, mussels, etc.) and keep it as a neat sump snail.

kjkszpj9 · Dec 31, 2023

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
Yeah, I'd say to take a good look through some Phrontis vibex pics (P. vibex seems to be pretty variable from the pics, so I'd suggest looking through quite a few to be safe), and if you don't think that's a match, then it's almost certainly a predatory species (probably some kind of "Drill/Oyster Drill" like Urosalpinx cinerea).

Regardless, I can tell you this snail would not have killed a healthy clownfish (I honestly doubt it's physically capable of killing even a sick one) - so something killed your clown and this snail just took advantage of the opportunity to feed on it.

Edit: Regardless of what kind it is, you can probably feed it bivalves (oysters, clams, mussels, etc.) and keep it as a neat sump snail.

pretty sure only cone snails has the ability to actually kill healthy fish and i dont think you even have cone snails in a reef tank anyways