Teeny Tiny Mystery Snail

[Zakary2003]

What is this guy? Since he's eating algae, I assume he's reef friendly clean up crew right? Where could he have come from? It's been about a month since I added the last coral and it was dipped.

 

[BristleWormHater]

That's something I would take out. Generally snails with this shell shape are not reef safe, except ceriths and a few others. That looks like a pyramid snail to me, not safe for clams or snails.

 

[Zakary2003]

That's something I would take out. Generally snails with this shell shape are not reef safe, except ceriths and a few others. That looks like a pyramid snail to me, not safe for clams or snails.

Got it. It has been removed. I don't have clams, but I have noticed that snails, especially trochus, don't last long in my system. Maybe that snail is the culprit. I'll have to pay more attention to look for others I guess.

 

[Zakary2003]

@ISpeakForTheSeas
You've helped me with random snails before. Any chance you can ID this one too?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

@ISpeakForTheSeas
You've helped me with random snails before. Any chance you can ID this one too?

Any chance you could get pics of the very tip of the snail's shell (the apex) and the opening of it (specifically the columellar fold)?

I've still got a lot of learning to do with the less-obvious snail species, so no guarantees here, but I know a handful of families that can look superficially like this and it's about 50/50 on if they're parasitic or not.

 

[Zakary2003]

Any chance you could get pics of the very tip of the snail's shell (the apex) and the opening of it (specifically the columellar fold)?

I've still got a lot of learning to do with the less-obvious snail species, so no guarantees here, but I know a handful of families that can look superficially like this and it's about 50/50 on if they're parasitic or not.

I will try to get those pics first thing tomorrow but I'm not home right now to take them

 

[BristleWormHater]

I will try to get those pics first thing tomorrow but I'm not home right now to take them

You are keeping it quarantined right?

 

[Zakary2003]

You are keeping it quarantined right?

Yeah. It's in the cup I use to thaw fish food.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Yeah. It's in the cup I use to thaw fish food.

Alright, good.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Either Cochlicella or trumpet snail

 

[Zakary2003]

Any chance you could get pics of the very tip of the snail's shell (the apex) and the opening of it (specifically the columellar fold)?

I've still got a lot of learning to do with the less-obvious snail species, so no guarantees here, but I know a handful of families that can look superficially like this and it's about 50/50 on if they're parasitic or not.

I decided to do the pics tonight so I don't somehow forget before I dump it back in the tank with the fish food tomorrow (it's in my food thawing cup). These are the best photos I could take of it. The thing is absolutely miniscule so getting my smartphone camera to focus on it is nearly impossible. The last pic has a grain of rice for scale.

 

[BristleWormHater]

I decided to do the pics tonight so I don't somehow forget before I dump it back in the tank with the fish food tomorrow (it's in my food thawing cup). These are the best photos I could take of it. The thing is absolutely miniscule so getting my smartphone camera to focus on it is nearly impossible. The last pic has a grain of rice for scale.

Surprised you even saw that thing, you must have good eyes.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I decided to do the pics tonight so I don't somehow forget before I dump it back in the tank with the fish food tomorrow (it's in my food thawing cup). These are the best photos I could take of it. The thing is absolutely miniscule so getting my smartphone camera to focus on it is nearly impossible. The last pic has a grain of rice for scale.

Look up Turbonilla (it's a genus of pyramid snails) and see if any of those look like a match.

 

[Zakary2003]

Look up Turbonilla (it's a genus of pyramid snails) and see if any of those look like a match.

Thank you! Yeah, I'd say it looks like one of the species in that genus but I can't really tell which. How much of a problem is that? I don't have any tridacna clams

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Thank you! Yeah, I'd say it looks like one of the species in that genus but I can't really tell which. How much of a problem is that? I don't have any tridacna clams

Unforunately, I'm not sure - it may depend on the species. I know at least some of them are parasitic on polychaetes such as Spaghetti worms, but there are several hundred species in the genus (the WoRMS database maxes out a 1,000 species, so I honestly don't even know how many species are in the genus, but it's upwards of 1,000).

Some of the species may be parasitic on other snails or other inverts, but without a giant clam, I wouldn't expect too many issues from them.