Inside a Vermetid Snail

redfishbluefish · Jan 21, 2016

I have vermetid snails. I would prefer not to have them, but it is a cross I have to bear. Every once in a while I go on the war path and start snapping them off. I think the only thing this does is to satisfy me in some way. I think the little piece that is left behind is enough to keep them going. Just like aptasia. But this one was cool.

So this one guy is growing on the glass, and I go to snap him off, and he comes off in one whole piece.....the whole snail!

I flip him over and you can see that with each coil, he hit the glass and "accepted" that as part of his shell, and did not build a calcified shell.

Again, I thought this was pretty cool and wanted to share.

bobman · Jan 21, 2016

First off thats awesome and thanks for sharing secondly thats got to be the biggest vermetid snail I have ever seen in a reef tank

brandon429 · Jan 21, 2016

Post gold

redfishbluefish · Jan 21, 2016

LOL, sorry @bobman , I should have had a reference in the photo....it was a close-up.

brandon429 · Jan 21, 2016

Must google:

Are those worms going out into the ecosystem to collect sand grains and mold them together via slimes and matrices made?

Or are they accreters making that shell from their own internal productions, your spiral architect pics look like sand grains he collected!

It's good detail in those pics am searching to see how they build

redfishbluefish · Jan 21, 2016

No, they produce their own calcified shell. They are actually snails...that can not move, and look more like a worm, but are not worms. Here are some I had on the 1 1/2 inch drain pipe that entered my filter sock. I think it's clear in this picture the coiled shell.

philfree · Jan 21, 2016

Dang RFBF,
I have them all over my 25g cube. Seems futile to get rid of. Rad pic.

steve&mari · Jan 21, 2016

Pretty awesome pics and how it grew. Crazy stuff we see over time in our reefs.

dbl · Jan 21, 2016

Great stuff Paul...very interesting.

redfishbluefish · Jan 21, 2016

philfree said:
Dang RFBF,
I have them all over my 25g cube. Seems futile to get rid of. Rad pic.

Here's the thing, I have a melanurus wrasse that is supposed to eat these little buggers. I don't think he's touching them. Even when I snap them off and pull out some of the soft worm-like body, he shows no interest.

ritter6788 · Jan 22, 2016

I had one out of the shell tonight and was going to take a pic to post here but I forgot. Ugly little worms and they are fast moving when you cut the tube off.

Lionfish Lair · Jan 22, 2016

That is AWESOME!!!!!

pondman · Jan 22, 2016

I have a few in my tank I leave them I figure they are just a part of the system

Wiz · Jan 22, 2016

This is awesome!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing. Too cool!

redfishbluefish said:
I have vermetid snails. I would prefer not to have them, but it is a cross I have to bear. Every once in a while I go on the war path and start snapping them off. I think the only thing this does is to satisfy me in some way. I think the little piece that is left behind is enough to keep them going. Just like aptasia. But this one was cool.

So this one guy is growing on the glass, and I go to snap him off, and he comes off in one whole piece.....the whole snail!

I flip him over and you can see that with each coil, he hit the glass and "accepted" that as part of his shell, and did not build a calcified shell.

Again, I thought this was pretty cool and wanted to share.