Snail ID

[Firefish89]

Hi. I found this neat snail in on one my new frags. Any idea what it is?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

That's a new one... let's call in the experts!
@ISpeakForTheSeas
@WheatToast

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That is an interesting snail. Any chance you could get some pics of the full shell from the top and sides, as well as a pic showing the full length of the underside of the shell? Those and pics of the snail itself (the foot, proboscis, and any other fleshy features) typically go a long ways toward getting an ID on unknown snails.

 

[Firefish89]

Hopefully this helps the ID…

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hopefully this helps the ID…

Looks like sundial snail and one you dont want

 

[Firefish89]

Looks like sundial snail and one you dont want

I thought sundial snails had box structures on the top of the shell.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I thought sundial snails had box structures on the top of the shell.

They have different shell patterns . I just googled sun dial and there ismany patterns

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hopefully this helps the ID…

I'll take a closer look tomorrow, but I'm currently leaning toward a Collonista relative (probably either Colloniidae family or Trochoidea superfamily).

 

[kjkszpj9]

They have different shell patterns . I just googled sun dial and there ismany patterns

And this snail has purple colors instead of black like sundial snails, also sundial snails when they retreat inside their shell theres a cone or pyramid on the end of their operculum

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I'll take a closer look tomorrow, but I'm currently leaning toward a Collonista relative (probably either Colloniidae family or Trochoidea superfamily).

So, I can't find an exact match to confirm this (which isn't terribly surprising given that the family and superfamily are both pretty large, and it can be tough/impossible to find pics of quite a few of the species involved), but I'm still very much so of this opinion.

Some species from the Colloniidae family that look close:
Collonista picta
Collonista granulosa
Circumcollonia eroopolitana
Homalopoma zephyrium

Anyway, while there are a ton of different snails out there, I would be surprised if this guy wasn't at least from the Trochoidea superfamily.

Also, for what it's worth, sundial snails (taxonomic family Architectonicidae) -even the more plain ones - are typically very, very ornate with their shell color, color pattern, shape, texture, etc. Many of them also basically have a flat, disk-like shell, and the ones that don't typically have shells that go basically straight up with their heads tucked in pretty far under their shells (so it'd be hard to see their heads/where their heads are popping out at under the shell in pics like the ones you've got above - with your snails, you can see the head pretty clearly despite it not sticking out very far at all). These are generalizations and probably don't hold true in all cases, but it's what I've seen across probably a few dozen species so far.

Either way, your snail here is most likely an algae eater, so - unless one of your corals starts randomly failing - I wouldn't worry about it (and even then I'd suspect some other cause first).

 

[vetteguy53081]

Collanista is pea shaped and ruled out