Snail I've never seen before

[CarmieJo]

I just saw this snail for the first time ever in my tank. It seems to have a snorkle. Can anyone tell me anything about it?

[CarmieJo]

Upon further study I think it is one of my nassarius snails.

[Seahorsedreams]

Yuppers, it is.

[iglowce]

how come the snorkle is too short?

[Paintbug]

it looks like an Ilyanassa Obsoleta to me. they are colder water snails. i have a couple myself wild caught from the NC coast. heres a little article on them. Do You Know Who You’re Dealing With? Get to Know the Real Ilyanassa obsoleta by Mike Greenemeier - Reefkeeping.com

[Rob]

i agree with Paintbug, looks like obsoleta to me as well...

[JustDavidP]

Can't tell from the picture...but that whelk does look dark in color.. not like any nassarius that I've seen.

D

[d-ster]

Can anyone else comment on the article Paintbug has sited as I have possibly been duped in this streching of the Ilyanassa Obsoleta eating and living habits. Should I then be worried and looking to evacuate my snails?

Donray

[Rob]

its worth looking at.. many people will tell you there fine, but i decided to listen to an expert and friend. Brian Plankis is quite familiar with the problems surrounding these snails, i will alert him to this post. im sure he will be able to enlighten us

[Seahorsedreams]

Alright, Alright..... I was wrong.

We called them mud snails.

[Rob]

Alright, Alright..... I was wrong. It does in fact look like the mud snails I use to get.

dont worry, every once and a while even the experts get it wrong...

[Seahorsedreams]

Pfffttt!

I think they use to be called (wrongly) Nassarius Obsoleta at one point.

[CarmieJo]

Hmmm, what grabbed my attention was the stripes, something I'd never noticed on my nassarius and the fact that it was up in my rocks and not in/on the sand or the glass where I usually see them. Makes me wonder if it was a hitchhiker on my LR which came from another hobbyist's tank and has been hiding out for over a year.

I could still see it on my rock so I have pulled it out. (This involved moving several rocks and knocking my new orange digitata off of the rock it was mounted to. Of course I don't have any more super glue gel so I reattached it with plain super glue. I'll let you know how that works out. ) Should I stick it in my sump?

[Rob]

ya know Carmie that doesn't surprise me, i think brian told me that they are collected on the beaches of NC and SC and sold to hobbyists, im sure its likely thats where it came from especially if the rock was from another hobbyist

[BrianPlankis]

CarmieJo,

That looks like it could be Ilyanassa obsoleta, but I'm not convinced yet. Try to take a picture of it out of the water oriented like in Mike's article.

If it is llyanassa obsoleta, then you could potentially deal with itchy skin from time to time from the flukes from the snail. I have answered this question from time to time and normally I say if people really like them, then they should keep them, but make sure not to spread them to other people. To avoid any skin flukes and accidentally spreading this snail in the hobby then it should be put in a small cup of water and frozen.

In your case since you are considering being a Project DIBS Breeder, then I would highly recommend freezing it. We don't want to take the chance of spreading the flukes from this snail to other snails in the project. We generally do not accept people as a Breeder if their tank contains Ilyanassa obsoleta.

While they are cheap snails and do eat leftover food that hits the sandbed, there are far better choices (Nassarius vibex or the Pacific Nassarius) for that role.

Brian

[CarmieJo]

I've got in a cup right now. I'll take some pix and post them. Then I will freeze it if needed. If it is Ilyanassa Obsoleta it has been there since I started my tank over a year ago and so for no itchy skin rash so that is good.

[CarmieJo]

Pix

[Seahorsedreams]

That's not a mud snail!

[CarmieJo]

Poor little thing. He has had a hard night.

BTW, I love my new lens but I still have to work on the depth of field thing!

[Seahorsedreams]

It took me a LONG time to figure out my macro lens.

[CarmieJo]

This is my first macro and I can tell it will take mw a while. Plus it is HEAVY! I use a tripod for shooting horizontally but that doesn't work for this kind of shot.

[Seahorsedreams]

Ask the Easter Bunny for a tripod that matches your new lens!

[CarmieJo]

That and a half a dozen other things. You really should not have TWO hobbies that have expensive toys.

[Seahorsedreams]

I honestly couldn't have one hobby without the other.

[CarmieJo]

I've been into both practically my whole life so I know what you mean.