Red Footed Conch

[equinecpa]

Can anyone tell me about these? The only information I have found on them is at etropicals.

Paritcularily, I'd like to know how big they grow? Do they hang out mostly in the sand or do they crawl all over the rockwork? Anything else on them would be good to!

TIA

CArolyn

[venwu225]

Q:Does the spine on the tip of their shell functions to pry open bivalves or limpets?

A:Quite likely, that is the generalized function of those spines on the whelks that have them, and there are number of such whelks.

Q:What exactly do they feed on in nature? I tried to look on pubmed and google, found some referrals to species similar using a spine to levy open limpets/bivalves.

A:I don't know for sure. I suspect nobody has looked at the specific diet for any population of this particular species. I would assume if I was doing field work where this animal was found that it was a predator on some animal that lived in a shell - in other words, either a clam, a snail, or a barnacle. Some similar whelks also eat relatively large worms, but those animals don't have such a spine.

Q:This description from etropicals does not seem correct....

"The Red Footed Conch is an omnivore and will also consume detritus. Supply pieces of fresh fish and dried seaweed, as well as high quality frozen foods, to supplement what they will feed on from the rocks of the tank. "

A: It isn't. Buccinids are NOT omnivores. They eat either carrion (dead or dying animals) or are predatory. They do not - indeed, they cannot - eat algae or plant materials, or detritus.

I asked Dr.Ron Shimek about this particular species, it is not a conch but a whelk, predatory and fasinating, well deserving of a species tank.

[venwu225]

Q: Does the spine on the tip of their shell functions to pry open bivalves or limpets?

A:Quite likely, that is the generalized function of those spines on the whelks that have them, and there are number of such whelks.

Q:What exactly do they feed on in nature? I tried to look on pubmed and google, found some referrals to species similar using a spine to levy open limpets/bivalves.

A:I don't know for sure. I suspect nobody has looked at the specific diet for any population of this particular species. I would assume if I was doing field work where this animal was found that it was a predator on some animal that lived in a shell - in other words, either a clam, a snail, or a barnacle. Some similar whelks also eat relatively large worms, but those animals don't have such a spine.

Q:This description from etropicals does not seem correct....

"The Red Footed Conch is an omnivore and will also consume detritus. Supply pieces of fresh fish and dried seaweed, as well as high quality frozen foods, to supplement what they will feed on from the rocks of the tank. "

A: It isn't. Buccinids are NOT omnivores. They eat either carrion (dead or dying animals) or are predatory. They do not - indeed, they cannot - eat algae or plant materials, or detritus.

I asked Dr.Ron Shimek about this particular species, above is the question and answer in series. And etropicals are wrong.

it is not a conch but a whelk, predatory and fasinating, well deserving of a species tank.

[romunov]

I was going to say "a conch that ain't", but venwu225 beat me to it. :D