Clam Killers?

[SFREEF3R]

I recently added some Cross Barred Venus Clams from ReefCleaners. It took several days for any of them to open so I thought they might not have made the journey initially.

On the first day I noticed this guy on one of the clams. The next day the clam was open and cleaned. At first I thought this was a nassarius and thought it had probably just eaten the dead clam, but after finding it on a second clam I'm beginning to think it might be some sort of whelk. I had assumed this was one of the bunch of nassarius I added as part of my hitchhiker crew long ago, but perhaps it was misidentified or maybe it was a hitchhiker. It's currently hanging out in my sump. It's about 1" long.



Today I found a different snail, one I haven't seen before on one of the clams. When I pealed it off I found a perfectly round role on the clam. I assume it's a hitchhiker. I haven't added rock to my tank since I started it up more than 2 years ago so it's been in there a while if so. Currently also in jail awaiting identification. It's only about 1/2" long. I'm thinking this is probably a murex snail of some kind?





I have dozens and dozens of small hitchhiker clams in my tank. Who knows how many have been killed by one or both of these guys. I'm kind of shocked I've had them both so long. I've see the big whelk/nassarius all the time but the suspected murex blends into the sand. I've never once noticed it.

 

[KrisReef]

I recently added some Cross Barred Venus Clams from ReefCleaners. It took several days for any of them to open so I thought they might not have made the journey initially.

On the first day I noticed this guy on one of the clams. The next day the clam was open and cleaned. At first I thought this was a nassarius and thought it had probably just eaten the dead clam, but after finding it on a second clam I'm beginning to think it might be some sort of whelk. I had assumed this was one of the bunch of nassarius I added as part of my hitchhiker crew long ago, but perhaps it was misidentified or maybe it was a hitchhiker. It's currently hanging out in my sump. It's about 1" long.



Today I found a different snail, one I haven't seen before on one of the clams. When I pealed it off I found a perfectly round role on the clam. I assume it's a hitchhiker. I haven't added rock to my tank since I started it up more than 2 years ago so it's been in there a while if so. Currently also in jail awaiting identification. It's only about 1/2" long. I'm thinking this is probably a murex snail of some kind?





I have dozens and dozens of small hitchhiker clams in my tank. Who knows how many have been killed by one or both of these guys. I'm kind of shocked I've had them both so long. I've see the big whelk/nassarius all the time but the suspected murex blends into the sand. I've never once noticed it.

It had to grow up for you to notice it perhaps?

 

[SFREEF3R]

It had to grow up for you to notice it perhaps?

Definitely seems possible. I have a baseball size sea urchin that came in as a hitchhiker too. It was months until I noticed it and at that time it was just the size of a dime.

I'm mostly just wondering what its been eating all this time.

 

[littlefoxx]

@ISpeakForTheSeas

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

This one is Gemophos tinctus - the Tinted Cantharus/Gaudy Lesser Whelk; they reportedly feed primarily on barnacles, but I wouldn't be surprised to find them eating clams too.

This one is definitely a murex snail of some variety - I haven't looked into these guys as deeply yet, so I don't know exactly which species you have. I'd guess a Chicoreus species, but I don't know for sure. Regardless, yes, this one is definitely predatory, and many murex snails are known for drilling through bivalve shells to feed - so both this one and the other snail are definite suspects for your dying clams.