Creepy lookin slug...
- Thread starter Vahanyos
- Start date
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OP
OP
Vahanyos
Valuable Member
OP
OP
Vahanyos
Valuable Member
His mouth looks like a feather duster, I mean
Lionfish Lair
Renee
It's a cowry.
Cary Meredith
Active Member
nice
stevo01
R33F!N @DD!CT
Coral eating?
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Can you take it out of the tank so that the flesh retracts and we can see the shell? If not, tap it while it's in the tank and see if you see a yellow ring on the shell.
OP
OP
Vahanyos
Valuable Member
Will do that next time. Are they anything to worry about? I only see him late nights abs he just runs up the glass and back in his hole he goes.
DSPENCE
Active Member
Could be a Cowry....also looks like a Stomatella snail. They look like a cross between a slug and a snail and are GREAT little algae eaters. I have them reproducing in my tanks. Harmless and very beneficial. If it a Cowry, the shell will be rounded on the underside of the edges and the animal can retract into the shell. If it's a Stomatella, the shell is more like an oval disc on it's back and the animal can't do much more than shrink in size and be covered by the disc....Stomatellas can lose their "tails" if you grab them.
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Lionfish Lair
Renee
A stomatella has a regular siphon whereas the critter in this thread has the branchia of a cowry.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
I'm going to quote a bonafide snail expert, Don Barclay.
"Actually, most cowries are NOT known for eating corals. Essentially all ovulids feed on one "soft coral" or another, and since they look like cowries, and the people who are considered to be reef experts (they aren't mollusc experts for sure) call them cowries, this myth gets propogated throughout the hobby over and over. It doesn't help that at least one of the authors published this as a fact, and then illustrated it by showing a pic of an ovulid, not a cowry, feeding on a leather coral. Dr. Burgess, who published a guide to collecting and identifying cowries called "The Living Cowries," noted specifically that it was a waste of time to look for cowries among live corals, because they don't feed on live corals. They are found under dead coral slabs usually with sponge growth and microscopic animals to feed on, along with various sparse algae growth. I've found this to be the case also. There are only a few small species of cowries that may be found in association with live corals, and none of them have been observed to be feeding on them, although it's possible. These include Cypraea poraria, Cypraea fimbriata, Cypraea irrorata, Cypraea minoridens, and Cypraea microdon. None of these has ever shown up on any of the reef tank forums, as far as I'm aware, and none of the suppliers sell them to hobbyists. As I've stated several times before, large starving cowries in small tanks may start tasting of things, including potentially corals, which isn't exactly the same as saying all cowries feed on corals, since none of them are known to do so."
DaltoniousMax
Community Member
Very interesting! My forum-lurking research had led me to believe that all but 1 or 2 species of cowry were not reef safe. to @Lionfish Lair, If you don't mind me asking, can you maybe point-out/describe where the branchia is located in the pic so one might identify it? This is the first time I've seen a pic of one with the flesh out and ill try googling it for more info if available
also, Im curious to know what the yellow ring (if present) might indicate? Crossing my fingers to end up with one of these in my tank!
also, Im curious to know what the yellow ring (if present) might indicate? Crossing my fingers to end up with one of these in my tank!
Lionfish Lair
Renee
Can you see the little frilly part in the picture? The OP also said the mouth looked like a feather duster, so even without the picture, I knew what they were referring to.
Here's a fantastic drawing.
Source
The ring indicates a couple of particular species, the Money cowries. You can see it in the diagram above.
http://www.gastropods.com/6/Shell_4396.shtml
http://www.gastropods.com/8/Shell_76128.shtml
Here's a fantastic drawing.
Source
The ring indicates a couple of particular species, the Money cowries. You can see it in the diagram above.
http://www.gastropods.com/6/Shell_4396.shtml
http://www.gastropods.com/8/Shell_76128.shtml
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DaltoniousMax
Community Member
yep i see it thank you! google revealed a lot of info on cowry shells being used for currency trade but not much on anatomy.
thank you! google revealed a lot of info on cowry shells being used for currency trade but not much on anatomy.
Lionfish Lair
Renee
yep i see it
That's a beautiful drawing, isn't it? The source (right below the diagram) is a good reference for one of the money cowries.
DaltoniousMax
Community Member
Awesome, all the info I was looking for and more! For a hitchhiker, Money Cowry is a fitting name. Hopefully one of those beautiful blue snails ends up in my tank
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