who's eating whom?

[McBeck]

This morning I found a snail stuck inside one of the mouths on a lobophyllia. At first I couldn't remove it, but after photographing the coral out of water, its grip seemed to relax and I was able to remove the snail with little difficulty.

The snail is still alive, although a tad slimier than usual. :)

I think it's just a cerith snail, but please let me know if it's actually somethine else. It's isolated right now.

I can honestly say this is the first time I've seen a snail's butt sticking out of a coral. Maybe I should up the Lobo's food rations this week. :lol:

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/47782snail_in_brain.jpg

Here is a closeup of the extracted snail:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/47782brain_snail.jpg

[rshimek]

Hi,

Yup, it is a cerith. I suspect it got too close to the coral and got grabbed by a feeding tentacle. It might have been able to get away on its own, though. I suspect the coral would have burped it out.