Is this a reef safe cone?

[Jimmywxzzz]

Hi everyone,

Can someone identify this cone snail for me please? Is it reef safe? Or does it eat fish?

Thanks!

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

I'm not sure. Was it a hitchhiker? Others here may have a better idea.

 

[Jimmywxzzz]

I'm not sure. Was it a hitchhiker? Others here may have a better idea.

I have no idea, it was climbing on my overflow. Looks like some sort of cone, i don’t want it to hurt my fish or anything.

 

[kjkszpj9]

Its a Columbellidae "Dove Snail", completely harmless algae grazer. Have a bunch of them in my 2 aquariums.

 

[Jimmywxzzz]

Its a Columbellidae "Dove Snail", completely harmless algae grazer. Have a bunch of them in my 2 aquariums.

Thanks! I saw a couple came out last night on the rocks, got me worried for a sec.

 

[Dburr1014]

That looks suspicious to me I would get a second opinion.

@ISpeakForTheSeas

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

That looks suspicious to me I would get a second opinion.

@ISpeakForTheSeas

Yeah, looks like it may be the Dotted/Lettered Dove Snail, Euplica scripta - as mentioned, Dove Snails/Columbellids (including this one) are beneficial; they're similar to Nassarius snails (i.e. they eat meat, not algae), but they can reproduce in our aquaria.

 

[kjkszpj9]

Yeah, looks like it may be the Dotted/Lettered Dove Snail, Euplica scripta - as mentioned, Dove Snails/Columbellids (including this one) are beneficial; they're similar to Nassarius snails (i.e. they eat meat, not algae), but they can reproduce in our aquaria.

I feel like they are more like algae eating cause they graze on my aquarium glass and they dont dig in sand or anything that nassa snails do.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I feel like they are more like algae eating cause they graze on my aquarium glass and they dont dig in sand or anything that nassa snails do.

Interesting, and I stand corrected here - Euplica scripta is apparently primarily a sea grass-epiphytic algae-eater;* so it feeds primarily on algae that grows on sea grass; interestingly, this makes them (and a few other common Columbellids) quite different dietarily than the vast majority of their relatives.**

Cool!

*Source:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21002727

**Source:

Molecular phylogeny of Columbellidae (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda) - PMC

The neogastropod family Columbellidae is a highly successful group of small, primarily epibenthic marine snails distributed worldwide and most abundant in the tropics. The great diversity of the group makes them attractive for studying evolutionary ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov