What’s on my snail?

[NaturallyKait]

I noticed this odd discoloured spot on my snail a few days ago but didn’t think anything of it. Then today for the first time I saw that if’s not just a spot, it’s some sort of hitchhiker. It opens up but snaps shut when startled, like when I blew water by it from a turkey baster in the video. Some kind of filter feeder? Friend or foe? 

 

 

Another angle:

 

 

video:

 

https://imgur.com/a/urnoHfN

 

[Ratvan]

It looks a bit like a Vermetid worm to me

[NaturallyKait]

10 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

It looks a bit like a Vermetid worm to me

I thought vermertids had tubes? This is like a flat shell. 

 

I also just noticed that the second pic looks like there’s something coming out of it. There’s not, that’s a piece of algae. It’s an old photo and this snail used to have a ton of hair algae growing on it that I cleaned off. 

[johnmaloney]

Hard to see it on a phone at least but it sounds like a bivalve growing on the shell that is pretty common and usually not an issue. Sometime the bivalve can grow too big and hinder the snail’s movement. 

[NaturallyKait]

2 minutes ago, johnmaloney said:

Hard to see it on a phone at least but it sounds like a bivalve growing on the shell that is pretty common and usually not an issue. Sometime the bivalve can grow too big and hinder the snail’s movement. 

Yeah it’s hard to see in general honestly, it’s pretty small. I had never even noticed that it opens up until I saw it suddenly close while I was cleaning detritus off of rocks and then reopen. I looked up pictures and it does look like a bivalve. So probably ok to leave alone then? It doesn’t seem to bother the snail right now. 

[Ratvan]

25 minutes ago, NaturallyKait said:

I thought vermertids had tubes? This is like a flat shell. 

 

I also just noticed that the second pic looks like there’s something coming out of it. There’s not, that’s a piece of algae. It’s an old photo and this snail used to have a ton of hair algae growing on it that I cleaned off. 

Sorry looks like a spiral to me.

I've had a couple of Bi Valves in the tank. Does it look somewhat like this?

 

[NaturallyKait]

44 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Sorry looks like a spiral to me.

I've had a couple of Bi Valves in the tank. Does it look somewhat like this?

 

Very similar yes. It’s really hard to get a photo of since it’s so small and blends into the snail so well. It’s easier to see in the video. 

[NaturallyKait]

Ok, apparently this snail is home to more than one potential hitchhiker. 

 

Whats this? Vermetid? 

 

 

video:

 

https://imgur.com/a/alJ1WoP