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Cowrie, which type?


Grendel0501

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I got a cowrie acouple of days ago, I assumed their diet was pretty much the same as a regular snail, but after alittle 'after the fact' reading, I find that some can be predators.

So I need a id on the one I got to make sure he isn't going to cause any problems.

 

IMG_7694.jpg

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Its strange, but I added this snail (middle, on sandbed, also unknown) months ago, and assumed he had died from the acclimation bc I hadn\'t seen him since the day I added him.

When all of a sudden I caught him out of the sand bed, I think the cowrie somehow influenced him to come out bc they were in close proximity to one another.

Snaped a pic but it isn\'t the greatest bc the tank is in night mode right now.

 

IMG_7723.jpg

Fullsize link for more detail

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Its strange, but I added this snail (middle, on sandbed, also unknown) months ago, and assumed he had died from the acclimation bc I hadn\'t seen him since the day I added him.

When all of a sudden I caught him out of the sand bed, I think the cowrie somehow influenced him to come out bc they were in close proximity to one another.

Snaped a pic but it isn\'t the greatest bc the tank is in night mode right now.

 

IMG_7723.jpg

Fullsize link for more detail

 

 

Based on the behavior of the snail in the second picture, I'd guess it's a nassarius. They basically stay in the sandbed and eat little worms and goodies. Great for stirring the sand. Usually they surface whenever you add food to the tank, as they are carnivorous and love eating leftover fish food. Not sure if that's what you actually have there, but it may be worth looking in to.

 

As far as the first guy, cowries are usually nocturnal. They are grazers, but they have been known to munch on sponges and softies if you don't have enough for them to eat. You can try feeding them algae pellets, but I've never had any success with them (though to be fair I've always had a lot of algae in my 115g for them to munch on). I had 3 cowries (before adding my puffer) and they never bothered my corals, though I have heard of it happening. And in case you're wondering, saddle puffers LOVE THEM! My puffer is my baby, though, so he gets what he wants haha.

 

Good luck with the ID!

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Thanks for the info, I'm keeping a eye on him, so far havn't seen him doing anything wrong.

 

Does anyone know what type of cowrie this is?

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the snail in your sandbed appears to be a cone snail, not a nassarius. some of these species are deadly to humans. does the pattern look like this? cone-snail-lg.jpg

 

cause if it does, it can kill you. get it out very carefully.

 

if not, then ignore me, it's probably one of the herbivorous varieties. :)

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the snail in your sandbed appears to be a cone snail, not a nassarius. some of these species are deadly to humans. does the pattern look like this? cone-snail-lg.jpg

 

cause if it does, it can kill you. get it out very carefully.

 

if not, then ignore me, it's probably one of the herbivorous varieties. :)

 

Oh... cone snail never crossed my mind. Behavior doesn't really seem right, though. A cone snail of that size would have killed some fish/inverts. Cone snails are predatory, and something should have gone missing.

 

That said, I'm not convinced its a nassarius either. Shell doesn't look... twisty enough (how's that for a scientific explanation?).

 

It could be a smooth morph conch. Maybe a tongan?

 

http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/images/prod...ng_Conch_ps.jpg

 

Does that look anything like it?

 

 

PS: Looks like a tiger cowrie.

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Without seeing the front end of it, I think your "snail" may actually be a conch. You'll be able to see two little beady eyes if it is.

 

And that may be an arabic cowrie? Which are apparently "reef safe"

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the snail in your sandbed appears to be a cone snail, not a nassarius. some of these species are deadly to humans. does the pattern look like this? cone-snail-lg.jpg

 

cause if it does, it can kill you. get it out very carefully.

 

if not, then ignore me, it's probably one of the herbivorous varieties. :)

I dumped a gallon of bleach in my tank.

If this snail is truely the spawn of satan as you say it is, I believe the loss of the other life in the tank is warranted..

Oh wait it looks nothing like that.. Crap..

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carbon-mantis

After scanning the internets, found a picture of a so called "arabian cowrie" Cypraea arabica that has a somewhat similar pattern to yours.

 

::edit:: One for sale.

 

I found a brief bit on wet web media mentioning them, says that they are primarily herbivorous but they like to sample meaty bits occasionally. Recommended the usual vegetable diet(kelp, nori, etc etc) supplemented with a bit of seafood here and there.

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fyi smaller coweries are herbivorous as they get older they become carnivorous. just keep an eye on it you'll know if you need to get rid of it in time. i had mine 1 night and it took out a small cluster of zoas. and it was a tiger cowerie like yours.

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I had a tiger cowrie some time ago in my 24G, it was good at eating up algae but due to its size it was always toppling corals over. After a while it became a nuisance and I returned it to the LFS.

 

I now have 4 "money cowries", those with a bright yellow band on a pearl white base. I love them as they are small and active, and do a good job as clean up crew. Apart from my two emeralds, the 4 little cowries take care of my clean up.

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that looks like a lettered olive in this picture:

IMG_7723.jpg

 

also predatory, bivalves and small snails.

:(

I looked some up, and that does look alot like the second snail.

Hrmm... he'll be hard to find again.

I'll try and catch him.

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:(

I looked some up, and that does look alot like the second snail.

Hrmm... he'll be hard to find again.

I'll try and catch him.

 

The official state snail of South Carolina... I feel like I should have known that!

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2nd snail is not reef safe and loves to eat other snails, the come from the Gulf coast and are often sold as algae eating snails when wholesalers run out of the good snails. It most likely came out of the sandbed because it sensed your cowrie was near and was thinking to ambush it.

 

Not sure about your cowrie, probably not a totally reefsafe one, just keep your eye on it. They sure are pretty though. ;]

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, the cowrie has definetly got to go.

I've caught him several times now, hanging out by a patch of zoas which look devistated the following morning....

I caught him and put him in the sump for now, hoping I can get some credit at the LFS for returning him.

 

The lettered olive, I havn't seen since that picture was taken.

I'm a night owl, so I scan over the tank alot when the moonlights are on.

Never see that guy...

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Grendel0501

Tonight I was trying to get my maze brain coral to start feeding (havn't seen it put out tentacles in months) by covering it with a cut 2 liter bottle and turkey basting the inside of the bottle with Phyto, Mysis and brine. Not tentacles came out, but the lettered olive did!!!

I picked him up with some tongs, I was going to throw him in the trash, but I decided to keep him in the sump and take him to the LFS tommorrow.

Picture

 

DSCF2612.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
Builder Anthony

What else is it eating?From what i understand the only cowrie safe are gold ring with a white shell called money cowry.If you see one let me know.

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  • 1 year later...

cyp. arabica and cyp. tigris will both snack on zoathids. They are not smart animals, they will eat constantly and anything that seems edible to them. c. annulus (gold ringer), c. moneta (money) and c. caputserpentis (snakehead) are all herbivorous and reef safe. They naturally occur in shallow coastal waters in the Indo-Pacific.

Cyp. spadicea are from California and are not tropical.

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