snails ID please

ISpeakForTheSeas · Jul 5, 2023

My best guess from the pics provided is some kind of dove snail (taxonomic family Columbellidae) - if so, they’re most likely harmless.

Any chance of pics with some brighter light? Being able to see the shell and patterning more clearly may help with an ID.

(Fun fact because whelks were brought up: dove snails are Nassarius snails are from the same taxonomic superfamily as whelks - Buccinoidea - but whelks are from the family Buccinidae while dove snails - as mentioned - are from Columbellidae and Nassarius are from Nassariidae).

saltyfins · Jul 6, 2023

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
My best guess from the pics provided is some kind of dove snail (taxonomic family Columbellidae) - if so, they’re most likely harmless.

Any chance of pics with some brighter light? Being able to see the shell and patterning more clearly may help with an ID.

(Fun fact because whelks were brought up: dove snails are Nassarius snails are from the same taxonomic superfamily as whelks - Buccinoidea - but whelks are from the family Buccinidae while dove snails - as mentioned - are from Columbellidae and Nassarius are from Nassariidae).

I will see if I can get a better picture when the lights come on. I did take them out and try...they do have a trunk, per se, but what I looked up online, they do look like whelks. The thing is, is that I have zero idea how they got into my tank. Last coral was introduced last August, and these started to appear in probably February or March. ? I am thinking that I added BB's about November/December?

saltyfins · Jul 6, 2023

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
My best guess from the pics provided is some kind of dove snail (taxonomic family Columbellidae) - if so, they’re most likely harmless.

Any chance of pics with some brighter light? Being able to see the shell and patterning more clearly may help with an ID.

(Fun fact because whelks were brought up: dove snails are Nassarius snails are from the same taxonomic superfamily as whelks - Buccinoidea - but whelks are from the family Buccinidae while dove snails - as mentioned - are from Columbellidae and Nassarius are from Nassariidae).

jabberwock · Jul 6, 2023

Really need to see the foot or the snchnozle. Most (I say "most" because I don't know if "all" is correct) whelks will have leopard print.

ISpeakForTheSeas · Jul 6, 2023

I agree that pics of the foot and siphon could be useful.

That said, possibly Euplica scripta - the Dotted Dove Snail? They display some pretty extensive variations in pattern on the shell, but they're the closest I know based on the shell pattern and shape (i.e. the shape of the spirals, the serrated edges of the shell, general shell shape, etc.).