Killer nassarius

[Atrax108]

So I have been called all kinds of things in other forums because people can’t believe this to be true. Yesterday I added a tail spot blenny to my tank. It was much alive but the hawk fish definitely gave it a chase. While it was being chased a nassarius snail snatched it up and ate. Yes I watched the take down and the fish being eaten from beginning to end. The fish was only in my tank for about 30 min. I would not believe it either if o didn’t witness it happen. Here is a picture even. I have seen nassarius eat fish before but dead fish or at least mostly dead. The difference here is this fish was very mich alive and it seems like the snail was actually hunting for it because he popped up out of the sand as soon as I dropped the new fish in. Has anyone ever seen this happen before. I have never known nassarius to hunt live pray before.

 

[Stomatopods17]

I'm not good with snail IDs but sounds like its a whelk not a nassarius.

Whelks are predatory, and they look very similar to nassarius to the point if you bought a batch of them you likely have one or two imposters and no one in the room would know otherwise.

I don't think even a whelk would go for a healthy fish though, are you sure dropping the new fish near it didn't trigger a feeding response similar to feeding the tank? If the fish was healthy/active it should just leave, but if its lethargic after acclimation or not doing so good I could see a whelk trying it.

 

[ReeferHD]

nassarius snails are still whelks and some species of nassarius will kill other tankmates, my question is how was it able to grab hold of the fish if it was alive and healthy?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I'm not good with snail IDs but sounds like its a whelk not a nassarius.

Whelks are predatory, and they look very similar to nassarius to the point if you bought a batch of them you likely have one or two imposters and no one in the room would know otherwise.

I don't think even a whelk would go for a healthy fish though, are you sure dropping the new fish near it didn't trigger a feeding response similar to feeding the tank? If the fish was healthy/active it should just leave, but if its lethargic after acclimation or not doing so good I could see a whelk trying it.

The nassarius snails we like in our tanks are a type of whelk, just not the predatory type.

 

[Atrax108]

nassarius snails are still whelks and some species of nassarius will kill other tankmates, my question is how was it able to grab hold of the fish if it was alive and healthy?

I don’t know exactly how it was able to accomplish eating this fish especially when the fish was trying to swim away while half its body was engulfed by said snail. Those snails are capable of moving a lot faster than people think. The messed up part is that hawk fish chased the blenny to the spot where it was ate then just watched the whole thing go down as of the two were partners in crime. It really was very interesting to watch especially when the snail finished and started moving. It looked like a snake after a meal.