Ok, so went to my LFS today trying to pick up some nasser snails to help sift the top portion of my sand bed since I am seeing a cyano infestation… I did a quick search on the net when I got home just to get an idea on what to expect as far as feeding and what not. I was pretty sure I didn’t need anything special, but just wanted to make sure. I came across an article about some Mud Snails being passed off for Nasser snails and read closer… Seems they are harmful to both the tank and to humans! So… take a look at these pictures and tell me what you think.
Also, just as a side note. I don’t blame my LFS for these snails. I heard they were brought in by a customer or something, so I think it is just a case of mistake identity. They act just like Nasser’s, burrow into the sand until they sense food, then appear out of the sand like zombies. But just by the looks, I am worried they aren’t what they seem.
I have read a little bit more, is it possible these are still a type of nassarius, just have a darker shell instead of the lighter like I am used to seeing? I have read that real nassarius snails can have a dark shell just that you can see some white almost through the dark brown or black on the shells…
I want to stress again that I don’t fault my LFS for it, just hoping that what I picked up is just a different variety of nassarius snail than what I am used to seeing.
I guess after reading what I posted, I just want to make sure that what I got isn’t harmful to my tank. I don’t imagine my LFS could have mistakenly IDd these guys as nasser if they aren’t, but I really just want to make sure. I have way too much invested in this tank for these things to be potentially hazardous to it. haha.
honestly i have never seen dark shelled vibex, nor that shell pattern
everyone i ever see has this growth pattern
second note, stirring the sand bed wont solve the cyano problem, in fact it could make it worse in some cases. nassarius vibex are carnivores/carrion eaters so they may help a bit with all that detritus i see (which is most likely the source of the cyano) but not likely, they would prefer to wait till you feed them than scavenge the bottom for poo
look here to see if you can better find that shell type.
Yeah, not nassarius- those are the one’s you can pick off the rocks at Bower’s beach (smooth shells are a giveaway). We always called them periwinkles, though that may not be the most correct name. They last a while in the tank, but don’t make much cleanup impact. I’d return them if it is worth the trip. You see them on Ebay quite a bit, usually much cheaper than nassarius.
I picked a bunch up from Lewis back in August, and there still kicking. As far as a clean up crew about 50% of them do eat algae off the glass. If you look at them they have a mouth and eat just like astre snails. The other half stays buried in the sand till they smell food and then come out,but they do seem to be doing something. Not sure if its a male and female kinda thing or what but they are eating algae and the others keep the bottom clean.
It really upsets me to see these guys being offered in LFS. The guys that collect and sell them to LFS often times collect from state parks, which it is illegal to do so. They often also collect whatever cool animals they find which are often subtropical or even cold water species. Even if they can live in warmer temps they often crash right away due to improper acclimation or die in only a couple months when they would live a lot longer in the wild.
They are likely Ilyanassa obsolete. I’m pretty familiar with these guys. A former professor of mine, Dr. Lawrence Curtis, spent his life studying these snails and the parasites that live on them.
In one of his papers in the abstract is says, “Ilyanassa (Nassarius) obsoleta (Say)†I am not sure exactly what these means.
Glen one explanation as to why some stay in the sand and some are on the glass may be due to parasitism. The parasite that often infects these snails convinces the snail to hang out at or above the water line so that shore birds will eat the snail and the parasite can then infect the bird. Before you ask I am not sure if the aquatic, aerial, terrestrial pathway these parasites can take is the only life cycle or if they can transfer from your local collected snails to your purchased tropical animals.
PS.
To be ultra fussy in the title of this thread the “O” in obsoleta should not be capitalized. In a scientific name the genus is capitalized, species should not be.
I have to disagree that stirring the sand bed would hurt your cyano problem. I believe a well stirred sand bed, biologically, is important to the health and beauty of a reef tank and more closely mixes the natural environment for many of our corals. Conch, such as fighting conchs, do a better job of stirring the bed and can also eat a lot of algae, but they also can bull dose small frags over and often times require more algae then is present in small reef tanks.(BTW, Queen conchs if taken care of will quickly outgrow most home aquaria and bull dose the crap out of everything) Most Nassarious snails do not require a massive amount of food to survive, so in that matter they will not significantly contribute to the Nitrates and Phosphates in the tank.
