Now I've seen everything - turbo snail without shell

[spidey07]

I've read threads before about how a snail can't exist without a shell.

Well, I was poking around the tank and saw one of my turbo snails with no shell. No lie. I've got pics and they will be posted. There he is...bare nakid.

Pics to come. Must of had a hermit rip him out, which is strange as I have plenty of shels for them to hop in to.

[tang named junkyard]

I believe he is now a slug

[LobsterOfJustice]

This is very weird that I found this post. Just last night I saw what appeared to be a snail without a shell. It did have a small dark spot on it's back, maybe a vestigial shell, and it has the typical snail antennae and mouth. I saw it again tonight. I have not added rock to my tank in over a year, so I've either overlooked this for quite a while, or something happened to one of my snails (I thought they couldnt live without a shell either).

[fishboy19]

probably a stomatella

-MatthewM

[boyohboy2]

There are lots of these in my tank, no big deal ... yes the "meat" looks exactly like a snail... but it's not a snail.

[K9]

What you all could be seeing is a Shield Limpet. Does it look like the creature on this Web site?

http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=scutus

[neotekz]

it is possible for a snail to survive without a shell, i've seen it before. try to post a pic or a positive id

[LobsterOfJustice]

Mine is tan, and more "long" and less "wide" than the link. It's at least an inch long.

[reefdood]

Does it move sloooooow or is it somewhat a fast mover? A stomanella can move about 20x faster than any astrea or turbo.

[spidey07]

Well after looking at it some more I believe I am mistaken.

But man it looks exactly like a turbo - the foot, the mouth and appendages around the mouth. Same size.

But this guy seems to have much longer antenna than the turbos.

Some kind of slug that looks very similar to a turbo.

[greenbean36191]

I've read threads before about how a snail can't exist without a shell.

Those threads were wrong. Snails can live without their shells. What they can't do is voluntarily slip out of them like hermit crabs can.

Like the others have said, it sounds like you have Stomatella, which is closely related to Turbos, but has a much more flattened shell. It's not a slug.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showp...t=1&thecat=998

[LobsterOfJustice]

Mine does move fast, but it doesnt look like either of the links. I'll try to get a picture of it if I see it again, but I'm not too worried because it was eating algae of the glass.