Nassarius snails That Kill???

Tchung23

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OK. I know everyone is gonna say I'm crazy. But I'm sure my snails are killers. I've seen them attack my turbo snails and I don't have any astra left in my tank. I'm also missing a couple of my bottom dwelling fish. I know I've been feeding less to try to keep nutrients lower and perhaps they are hungry??? I've seen them gang tackle a snail and they are fast!! I could see them catching a fish while sleeping and totally engulfing them.

Please let me know if any of you folks have ever seen this in your tank?
 
^ agree, sometimes predatory whelks are mistaken for nassarius snails. Pics will help confirm.
I will take photos when I get home. I will say they have been done for a long time. But since I’ve cut my feedings down they are much more aggressive and I thought my snails dying were just cause they were getting old until I saw the nassarius gang tackle another snail.
 
^ agree, sometimes predatory whelks are mistaken for nassarius snails. Pics will help confirm.
Here are the goons!!!
 

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From my lfs. He’s alway been good for me. I’ve had these for awhile. Definitely gives me reason to believe all those nails that died previously were murdered.
 
OK. I know everyone is gonna say I'm crazy. But I'm sure my snails are killers. I've seen them attack my turbo snails and I don't have any astra left in my tank. I'm also missing a couple of my bottom dwelling fish. I know I've been feeding less to try to keep nutrients lower and perhaps they are hungry??? I've seen them gang tackle a snail and they are fast!! I could see them catching a fish while sleeping and totally engulfing them.

Please let me know if any of you folks have ever seen this in your tank?
They don't call 'em Zombie Snails for nothing. I have 5 in a pico tank and they be straight thuggin'. JK :cool:
 
Mud whelks are also called dog whelks...
"Dog whelks are predators themselves; they mainly feed on smaller herbivorous molluscs such as mussels, barnacles, and periwinkles. The dog whelk attacks its prey by boring a hole through the animal's shell and using a chemical secretion to dissolve the prey inside the shell into a soup, it then sucks out the insides!"
 
They don't call 'em Zombie Snails for nothing. I have 5 in a pico tank and they be straight thuggin'. JK :cool:
They call them zombie snails because some of them bury themselves in the sand and only come out at night... Has nothing to do with TWD! Lol ;)
 
Three of those are 100% predatory mud whelks. Remove them from your tank ASAP!!

The one circled in blue is a good guy.

Where did you get them from??


Screenshot_20221012-185952.png
Not predatory whelks and not the issue. The dark ones are Nassarius margaritifer; I have them in my tanks and they have been model citizens and great CUC. The light one may be Nassarius distortus, also good CUC but I have found them to be worse at tracking down food.

Nassarius margaritifer (left), possibly Nassarius distortus or a related species (middle), and possibly Nassarius limnaeiformis (right) in my Anti-Reef:
E78566EA-F52A-4959-9738-80EC42849D54.jpeg


Nassarius margaritifer in my Anti-Reef:
E3A05411-1B94-4882-922A-030B261ADB51.jpeg


Whelks (right) have distinctive siphon patterning:
https://www.melevsreef.com/blogs/whats-whelk
1665623666593.jpeg


As I mentioned earlier, your livestock might be weakened/dying and the snails are seizing the opportunity. I have had clam worms stealthily attack my ninja star snails and leave the weakened individual for the Nassarius. What livestock do you have/do you have live rock with hitchhikers?
 
Whelks (right) have distinctive siphon patterning:
https://www.melevsreef.com/blogs/whats-whelk
1665623666593.jpeg


As I mentioned earlier, your livestock might be weakened/dying and the snails are seizing the opportunity. I have had clam worms stealthily attack my ninja star snails and leave the weakened individual for the Nassarius. What livestock do you have/do you have live rock with hitchhikers?
With all due respect to Melevsreef, this article is often referenced but is not 100% accurate. Predatory whelks don't always look like the one in his photo or match his description. Also, the following statement is misleading as the nassarius also has its opperculum on the tail; "the whelk has a protective shell on its tail that it uses to seal itself in its shell when in danger".
 

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