Weird Snail

Lynx · Jul 18, 2022

Affectionately calling this my Studio Ghibli snail. Got this guy in a clean up crew order, have been keeping him in my coral/invert QT tank because his shell looked weird and it's gotten even more crazy since!

Any clue on what all this craziness is? Guessing some kind of filtering worm but don't know what the branchy stuff is. Just don't want to introduce anything bad to my display tank!

Ron Reefman · Jul 18, 2022

My first thought is a cerith with a couple of things attached to the shell.

I do some collecting in the Florida Keys and I keep odd ones like this in a 5 or 10 gallon holding tank until I'm sure they are OK to put in the DT.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Jul 19, 2022

Lynx said:
Affectionately calling this my Studio Ghibli snail. Got this guy in a clean up crew order, have been keeping him in my coral/invert QT tank because his shell looked weird and it's gotten even more crazy since!

Any clue on what all this craziness is? Guessing some kind of filtering worm but don't know what the branchy stuff is. Just don't want to introduce anything bad to my display tank!

Take it out and scrape everything off the shell...?

WheatToast · Jul 19, 2022

Ron Reefman said:
My first thought is a cerith with a couple of things attached to the shell.

+1 Looks like a Cerith snail with some kind of "sand-tube" worm and red macroalgae attached to its shell. Here is one of my Cerith snails for comparison:

Lynx · Jul 19, 2022

WheatToast said:
+1 Looks like a Cerith snail with some kind of "sand-tube" worm and red macroalgae attached to its shell. Here is one of my Cerith snails for comparison:

So you think nothing on his shell is harmful? He's been in QT almost 2 months now haha and they just keep growing! But if it's just a sand tube worm and macroalgae that shouldn't be an issue in the DT

Projects with Sam · Jul 19, 2022

Anything like that I tend to scrape it off. I'd kick myself later if I woke-up to find my tank infested with those hairy ears.
but by all means, go for the diversity...

Ron Reefman · Jul 19, 2022

It's not that uncommon to find things attached to a shell. I have a cerith I put in my tank about a month ago (collected wild in the Florida Keys) and it is now carrying around a small bright orange mushroom! Makes it pretty easy to find!

If it's been in quarantine for 2 months and the little tubes haven't reproduced in the QT, I think I give it a go in the DT. But just so you know, I'm a HUGE advocate of biodiversity in the tank. I collect most of my CUC wild and I sometimes add stuff that is a bit risky. Here is an example. What is the green thing?