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Nightmare Snail Killer! What is it? pictures


mobilehurricane

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mobilehurricane

The tank has been running for about 3 months with live rock from the florida gulfarium. It had lots of hiitch hikers with it, but I may still only be discovering all of them.

 

About a month ago one of my small nassasarius snails went missing, then I found his empty shell near a cave on the left side. I brought home a much larger nassasarius from my office tank and within a week his shell was found there empty as well. I have seen some large bristle worms that I thought may have been the killers until just recently. My prized hitch hiker snail covered in deep purple coralline was found near the edge of the cave tonight upside down. And there was something lurking in the cave that would occasionally reach for the snail.

 

First picture was of only part of the body as I shined an led flashlight into the opening.

 

worm.jpg

 

Next is after waiting for it to come out more:

 

worm2.jpg

 

And even more...you can see it in the cave and on the snail now...may have been 2 or one large creature:

 

worm3.jpg

 

The tank has been set up and I have never seen this before!!! It's freaking me out...I could see it slithering in the rockwork back in the shadows and the body seemed to go on forever...possibly 3 inches or more. And I think there may be more than one. I tried to catch it with some needle nose pliers several times, but only managed to rip a small piece off. I did a quick search and guess it could be a huge flatworm. Please let me know what it is and how to get rid of it!

 

And my poor snail:

 

DSC01329.jpg

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Heh, I've had those.

Forgot the name for them.

I discovered that dipping your rocks or corals in Coral Revive can kill them.

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mobilehurricane

I would love to do that except that I would have to basically take the tank apart to do it and remove several corals that have grown onto the rock. It's a thought though. Would be great if I could just coax them all out in the open.

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mobilehurricane

hmm i'll have to check Interceptor out. i really do want to get rid of what ever it is.

 

any one else on an id?

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mobilehurricane

I left the snail in for a few hours so I could try siphoning, but due to the proximity of the rocks to the glass I couldn't get under the cave at a good angle. There are a ton of hiding spots and I only had one chance each time to catch him before he disappeared into the rock again. Maybe I can find a flexible siphon?

 

Whatever it is it sure seems to like snails.

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mobilehurricane
looks like a big nasty flatworm to me.....

 

I have a feeling that you're right from some other google pictures I found. Are they known for killing snails or is there something else even worse that this hidden creature could accomplish?

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Actually looks like it could be pretty cool looking. honestly your best be would be dipping the rocks. try to take all the corals off if you can. If you do get all the corals off, a quick FW dip should get the critter out, and if you move it to a container of SW quickly you may even not kill it.

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mobilehurricane

i would like to try something like a trap before dosing or removing rocks.

 

if i used a bottle, what would you recommend as bait for this unknown thing?

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i would like to try something like a trap before dosing or removing rocks.

 

if i used a bottle, what would you recommend as bait for this unknown thing?

 

Umm a snail? lol

 

Sorry to hear you got this killer thing on the loose tho

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mobilehurricane

lol yes, a snail would obviously work since he has eaten them before, but it means i would need to kill one and put it in there. trying not to kill anything else, even if it is just a snail. maybe something frozen?

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use live Snail as bait.. I don't think you want anything else decaying while you wait for a bite. If you get the worm out keep it alive or atleast take pictures. I'm interested in seeing how big this flatworm/slug is.

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mobilehurricane

you confirmed what i already thought. i left the dead snail in the tank tonight for approximately 2 hours so i could have multiple attempts at getting pictures and possibly catching it. but i didn't want to let it decay too long since it's only a 17 gallon tank, so you're definitely right that i don't want anything else decaying. so yes, i can put a live snail in there, although i don't know how long i can get it to stay put, worth a try.

 

and yes, i'm curious how big it is as well, especially without ever seeing it before until tonight. i may have only seen part of it tonight and it already makes my skin crawl

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mobilehurricane
well you probably would want to mod the bottle to use it as a trap. like this (not my image): wasp-trap.jpg

 

oh, nice! i hadn't thought of something like that. i can make one of those tomorrow out of a 20 oz soda bottle so it will fit and give it a try. nice image

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mobilehurricane
Curious, Is this worm pulling the snails out of their shells completely or is there another approach when it preys.

 

well, the first 2 snails must have been captured and killed during the night because they just disappeared and i later found the shells empty under the cave. and i don't know how they were killed. with this latest snail, he was quite large and could not be pulled into the cave. i''m not sure what was occurring in the pictures i posted, but it was almost as if the creature was just laying over the top of the snail and absorbing it that way. the hard covering that protected the snails foot was gone so the snail was exposed. the creature didn't seem to have much of a mouth but was laying over the snail more or less, and would come back within 5 minutes everytime i tried to catch it.

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mobilehurricane

 

wow that is extremely interesting that you had one that looks almost identical and several other reefers experienced it eating snails! i just wonder how it is killing them?

 

i did find this earlier that seemed pretty close...

http://www.marinelifephotography.com/marin...pericelis-2.htm

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/invertebr...l-Flatworm-.htm

 

and a description:

These beautiful animals are only a few cells thick and are very simple. They absorb oxygen through the skin, lack a complex nervous system, and food and waste is exchanged at the mouth. Despite their delicate bodies flatworms are active carnivores that prey upon small invertebrates. The majority of species are active after sunset. Due to their cryptic nature many species remain undescribed.

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