What. Is. This?!?!

Maritimer · Nov 29, 2017

Little-littles!

Definitely not any nassarius or cerith I've ever seen... Could you catch a photo of a live one, in a cup or something like that?

~Bruce, still suspecting whelkishness

KMench · Nov 29, 2017

I'll work on a live photo for you. They come out at night. I caught four last night, but haven't seen any all day.

Brew12 · Nov 29, 2017

Maritimer said:
Little-littles!

Definitely not any nassarius or cerith I've ever seen... Could you catch a photo of a live one, in a cup or something like that?

~Bruce, still suspecting whelkishness

So you think a whelk and not a wentletrap?

KMench · Nov 29, 2017

How's this for service with a smile!

KMench · Nov 29, 2017

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but he has a proboscis like a nassarius snail.

KMench · Nov 29, 2017

Better view of proboscis

Maritimer · Nov 29, 2017

Brew12 said:
So you think a whelk and not a wentletrap?

I do ... this guy's got a pointed end to his shell that allows that proboscis to protrude and rise up, which I don't see in a wentletrap. It looks rather similar to a couple of small (but not _this_ small!) whelks we have 'round here, called oyster drills. (Not saying that it _is_ an oyster drill, but has a familial resemblance.)

~Bruce

KMench · Nov 30, 2017

Ok. I still swear that they’re eating my corals. There’s plenty of algae in my tank for them to eat. Yet I pulled five of them off the affected birdsnest shortly after lights went out this evening.

KMench · Nov 30, 2017

I refuse to think it’s coincidence that I only see these snails on SPS which are the only thing I’m having a problem with, and there’s five on the coral when there’s plenty of other algae and space in the tank. Also don’t see any other snails of this variety beside the ones currently on the coral.

Brew12 · Nov 30, 2017

KMench said:
I refuse to think it’s coincidence that I only see these snails on SPS which are the only thing I’m having a problem with, and there’s five on the coral when there’s plenty of other algae and space in the tank. Also don’t see any other snails of this variety beside the ones currently on the coral.

I agree, that is a very bad sign.

Maybe we can get more #reefsquad eyes on this.

KMench · Nov 30, 2017

Just to give some perspective about the coral. Here it is on the 21st happy and full of color. And the second picture is it on the 27th. No water changes etc etc between timeframes.

KMench · Nov 30, 2017

Guess I should upload the pic.

Maritimer · Nov 30, 2017

Yeah, I'd pull those when I saw them if I were you. A shame, as they're really beautiful little snails!

Maybe keep 'em in the sump. Let 'em scrounge for detritus.

~Bruce

JaimeAdams · Nov 30, 2017

I want to tag along on this one

KMench · Nov 30, 2017

So, after finding them on that coral.... they didn’t make it to the sump. I worry about them getting into the return pump and causing this problem all over again. I pulled 8 of the buggers tonight.

reeferfoxx · Nov 30, 2017

Unless you can find a juvenile Pacific Rock Crab, looks like manual removal is best. Some lite research suggests these guys like to lay eggs near anemones and urchins like to eat the eggs. Sorry but that is the best input I can give.

http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/WHELK/whelPred.php

KMench · Dec 5, 2017

Well, I’ve spent the past few evenings watching the tank and pulling them every time I saw them. The birdsnest has no more damage than that last picture now and I haven’t seen a snail in ~36 hours. I pulled about 20 of them. It would be interesting to know what they were, but if not at least I solved my SPS issue.

KMench · Dec 5, 2017

Well, for the sake of my sanity. I put two of these little guys in with a fresh coral frag just to see what would happen. Within a minute the first guy found the frag and the second one followed shortly after. I think this confirms my opinion that they were eating my SPS. I just added a pocillopora tonight, left, and came home to find what is (hopefully) the last of them munching on it;Vamp I think the bigger the polyps the more delicious it must taste because that’s what they’ve seemed to target. At least they’re easy to manually remove, hope I’ve nipped it in the butt...