Kinda bought something....

[hamdogg08]

I made a bit of a mistake. I had our wholesaler bring us in "any snail under 3 bucks." I ended up getting a snail whose shell looks a lot like a pecan shell. It dug down into the sand as soon as I put it in the tank. What is it? I was thinking cerith snail, but they have more pointy shells than mine.

[hypertech]

Is this fresh or salt?

[PLNelson]

possibly a nassarius. I have some. They come out when I feed the tank. Not much for algae eating.

[Irenicus]

Just hope they are not the bad nassarius.

[capman]

Is the shell really smooth and shiny all over sort of like a cowrie shell? If so, I'd bet it is an olive snail. I've had one for quite a few years, and another that I had a long time but had die last year.

What is this selling for? I'd love it for the lab if it is not too expensive. You are working at Twin City Reptiles, right?

You don't see them much. They sit in the sand most of the time with their siphon sticking up above the sand, and when they smell food they sort of erupt from the sand, engulf the food under their foot, and descend back into the sand with the food to eat it. They are scavengers, but possibly also predators (not sure of the latter).... without knowing more I would think twice before keeping it in a tank with small fish that sleep on the sand. Probably there would be no problem at all, but I'm not certain. Mine have been in simple tank compartments with just a fine sand bed. They have been living with our horseshoe crab actually, which likes the same sort of simple setup (don't keep horseshoe crabs in tanks with rockwork...they like open sand to burrow in and scurry about over, and they can get trapped among rocks when in the confines of an aquarium).

[hamdogg08]

It's an olive snail for sure! Thanks