Please help ID these snails/whelks.

Flobajob · #1 07/27/2007, 07:00 AM

Hi,

I found four of these guys last night:

They are like nassarius but bigger and different coloured. I had a look around, and the closest match I could find was a tulip snail, but I am not certain this is correct. I have also not seen any of these things near my other snails.

I also saw a red snail with white spots on it, shaped a bit like the snail in the pic above, but with a the spiral bit at the back being flatter. These are the best pics I could get of it before it disappeared:

(you can see the back of it next to the hermit crab)

I haven't a clue what this one is.

Please let me know what you think they are.

Thanks in advance,

Michael.

pagojoe · #2 07/27/2007, 02:07 PM

ID'ing these is a pretty tall order, with a single view of half the dorsum from the spire downward on the first, and a view of about a third of the shell with no perspective on length or width on the second one, and no view of the apertures or siphonal canals. If you want positive ID's, you should catch them and photograph them in a dish.

I'll guess at them, though. The first one looks to be a buccinid whelk, probably a Cantharus or Pollia species. My best guess is Cantharus fumosus, or Pollia fumosa, depending on whether Pollia is considered to be a full genus or a subgenus.

http://www.gastropods.com/6/Shell_796.html

The next one appears to be a "Mitre/Miter" shell, either in the Mitridae or Costellariidae families. There aren't that many bright red ones with white spots, so my best guess is either Vexillum semicostatum, if it's an elongated, skinny shell, or Mitra cucumerina, if it's short and fat.

http://www.gastropods.com/2/Shell_4852.html
http://www.gastropods.com/1/Shell_1121.html

Cheers,

Don

Flobajob · #3 07/27/2007, 03:04 PM

Thanks Don. Are the whelks bad news, i.e. should I remove them?

Michael.

pagojoe · #4 07/27/2007, 04:22 PM

The mitres are worm eaters, so you probably won't notice anything they eat. The whelks may eat other small animals in your tank, including snails, so if you don't want to feed them or have them eat the other things in the tank, you'll likely want to remove them.

Cheers,

Don