Help To I.d This Snail

[guppy_man]

I have these snails in my tank that i can't seem to I.D. There are 3 colour variations - 1 red and white striped, 1 brown and white striped, and the last is white and 'cream' in colour.

I have no idea what they are, and can't find nothing on google.

Any ideas?


Gethin

 

[fluttermoth]

I think we'd really need to see a pic of them; there are a lot of stripy snails!

Edit; Of course, I won't be of any help at all, seeing as this is the marine section! Wish I'd noticed that before I posted!

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Maybe some sort of nerite, they are stripey.

 

[guppy_man]

They are not Nerite snail's, forgot to say they are also around a cm, and round.

Here's the best pics i could get of the brown ones, the red and cream didn't make an appearance!

Any ideas now?

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Hmmmm... Maybe Donya will know.

 

[Donya]

Looks like a Turbinid of some sort. How accurate is the 1cm measure? It's hard to get a sense of scale from the pics and the species that sprang to mind first after seeing the pics don't get over about 5mm. In the absence of other details like what the operculum looks like, the size makes a difference for figuring out the genus.

 

[guppy_man]

Looks like a Turbinid of some sort. How accurate is the 1cm measure? It's hard to get a sense of scale from the pics and the species that sprang to mind first after seeing the pics don't get over about 5mm. In the absence of other details like what the operculum looks like, the size makes a difference for figuring out the genus.

I haven't measured them, but i'd guess at 7-8mm is the largest. They have a spiral type shell, but is more rounded than pointy. The body is an off colour white.

I've tried to get a real good close up but haven't got a good enough lens.

 

[lljdma06]

Looks like a Turbinid of some sort. How accurate is the 1cm measure? It's hard to get a sense of scale from the pics and the species that sprang to mind first after seeing the pics don't get over about 5mm. In the absence of other details like what the operculum looks like, the size makes a difference for figuring out the genus.

A sun dial perhaps? I stink with scientific names. Heliacus species?

L

 

[guppy_man]

Looks like a Turbinid of some sort. How accurate is the 1cm measure? It's hard to get a sense of scale from the pics and the species that sprang to mind first after seeing the pics don't get over about 5mm. In the absence of other details like what the operculum looks like, the size makes a difference for figuring out the genus.

A sun dial perhaps? I stink with scientific names. Heliacus species?

L

I think thats the closest match Lj! Although, mine are more round than any i see on google, colour is similar though.

Gethin

 

[Donya]

Don't use color to ID a snail! Once you're in the right shell shape territory you can use it to narrow in on a species by ruling things out, but color is very variable in a lot of these guys and there are bajilliions of snails with very similar patterns.

I am rather doubtful that this one is in Heliacus. But, it's always better to check how many teeth the donkey has than just talk about it. Grab one out and look at the operculum. If it's got a pointy cone for a trap door, you may well have a Heliacus. It's a very obvious feature on them. If the operculum is flat or like a pebble (which may mean you don't see it at all if the animal pulls way back) then Heliacus is ruled out.

Lacking operculum info, it still looks like something in the Collonista genus or related genera to me, but the size is on the large side, although I just ran across heaps of other pics of awfully large-looking things (relatively speaking) IDed as Collonista, specifically C. amakusaensis. Clearly they're all Turbinids, but I'm not sure on the specifics as the size reports for that species are rather conflicting saying 3-4mm, whereas the pics being readily given that ID are clearly of larger animals closer to the size of this one. I'll have to see if I can find a more reliable size quote or more reliable ID on those grazers.

 

[Donya]

Alright, an expert that I trust 100% apparently IDed one these guys back in 2007 on another forum as being in Colloniinae and also indicated uncertainty over the common C. amakusaensis ID that's all over the web. Fuzzy taxonomy and/or term usage would certainly explain the size discrepancies between reports and actual pictures. At any rate, all that would put it in the same group at least with the Collonista genus.