Id Please

[cabte]

theres loads of these white small long snails in my tank
they seem to get a lift of the turbos .
any ideas wot they are .

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/snails%201.jpg


http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/snails%202.jpg

carl

[Mikey]

Moved to ID forum.

[mantis]

they look like Pyramidellid snails possibly? but on the second photo it looks like some sort of nudibranch.

craig

[Saj]

cabte,

the first picture showing your turbo snail are little snails that kill the turbo snails and clams.

I would start to check each turbo snaily and remove them, like wise if you have clams. If you have clams you may want to syphone the local area where the clams sit. If possible cheak your turbo snails regulary.

good luck, i lost all my turbo snails to these little white snails <_<

[vanadium]

i would agree with saj.........knocked of my clam... :angry:

[andrewb818]

Hi guys,
I've got some of these little white snails in my tank too but I just thought they were baby snails and my tank was doing well (enough for my critters to spawn) - shows what I know eh? :rolleyes:

I'll keep my eye on them now and remove them when I find them :ph34r:

See - its great this website for gaining info on all sorts!!

Cheers

Andrew :thumbsup:

[SuperBlades]

If IRC, clown wrasse like to munch in them :)

[cabte]

thanks for the info lads .

DANNY-S get that clown wrasse out of you tank for me .
if your still getting rid .
carl

[wayne g]

definetly remove these snails.
i had them a while back on a clam. get a soft nailbrush and remove the clam from the tank into a tupperware container of tank water.
the clam should close up..you can then scrub off the affected snails and discard the 'dirty' tank water.
i was very gentle at first with the brush but found as long as the clam is closed up you dont need to worry too much....little bugger did close on my little finger once though...supprising pressure from a 4" clam.

[coling]

I've got these little fellas in my tank, walso thought they were baby snails.

Strange as I've only got one large snail at the moment. Maybe they picked off the smaller turbos, not the crabs.

Does anyone know if they are definitley turbo eaters? Any names etc?

[wayne g]

i'm fairly certain that they're not canabalistic to other snails.
your hermits more than likely picked off the turbos.

[5061litres]

Names: Pyramidellidae; Pyram snails, Tathrella species

The parasitic rice-grain snails are the bane of aquarists who wish to keep Tridacna. As their name implies they are about the size, shape, and color of rice grains. They are high spired snails with a translucent glassy, almost colorless shell, with a total length of about five millimeters. The shell aperture is oval, rounded, or broadly "tear-drop" shaped. There are one to three small folds in calcareous wall of the aperture on the body side, however these may be very difficult to see. There is no spout or siphonal canal. The animal's flesh is white giving the shell of the living animals a white cast.

These are opisthobranch snails more closely related to nudibranchs than to the major group of marine shelled snails. Unlike many of the opisthobranchs, however, the pyrams have a shell throughout their lives.

They do not have the rasping organ or radula characteristic of most snails, but they have a long proboscis with a pumping apparatus at the base. They are ectoparasitic and suck the blood and tissue fluids of their host. They use their proboscis to force an opening into their host's tissues and remain attached sucking blood. They may be found around any exposed surface of the host, such as the edge of the mantle, the byssal region, and possibly even down inside the host.

Commonly referred to as a Tathrella species in the aquarium hobby literature, it is likely that there are several species involved, and possibly even several genera. The taxonomy of this group is difficult, chaotic, and serious of revision. It is simply better to refer to these as "small pyramidellids" rather than to give the false precision of an imprecise name.

All opisthobranchs are hermaphroditic, so any two individuals may mate and produce viable offspring. Depending on the species, the eggs are brooded or deposited on the substrate (often on the host, or another snail). The juveniles hatch from the egg masses in a few days and grow rapidly to sexual maturity. Starting from one pair, enormous numbers of snails may be found within a few weeks to months.

In natural situations, most of the young disperse away from the host or predators eat them. Generally any wild clam will have a few of the parasites, and this is really no problem. However in the altered environment of a reef aquarium, predation pressures on the pyrams may be non-existent, and there is no place to disperse to. Under situations such as this, the parasite populations rapidly assume plague proportions. High populations of the snails may often kill tridacnid.

Removing the snails is the only sure cure, and this may be very difficult, as the snails are hard to see. There is no real cure other than continued diligence and removal of observed snails. Some fishes such as six-lined wrasses are said to eat the snails, but using them to remove these snails is by no means certain.


tony.