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Growth on snail shell


505nano

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Can't possibly ID from the picture, but can tell you it's almost certainly nothing to worry about - all kinds of crap will grow on your snails and hermit shells over the years. It doesn't hurt them at all.

 

They will start looking like this after 5 or 6 years with more biodiversity on their backs than many people have in their entire tank for the first year when starting with dry rock.

hermit-shell_2020-01-27.thumb.jpg.3ed82c712841fb307920c9794bde06bc.jpg

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23 minutes ago, Joevember said:

Look like sone barnacles, I've had them on 2 snails before. Cool guys

That's exactly what I thought.. but was in doubt lol. 

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Yep, barnacles. Harmless filter-feeders. If they're alive, you'll occasionally see their little filter-feeding "hand" come out and wave around in the current. 

 

Are you sure they weren't there before, just smaller? If they're definitely new, that would imply you have barnacle larvae floating around in your aquarium.

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3 hours ago, Tired said:

Yep, barnacles. Harmless filter-feeders. If they're alive, you'll occasionally see their little filter-feeding "hand" come out and wave around in the current. 

 

Are you sure they weren't there before, just smaller? If they're definitely new, that would imply you have barnacle larvae floating around in your aquarium.

For sure we're not there. They've grown on different species of snails and hermits. Not sure how they got there or where they came from. 

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If they're definitely new, then I'd say a barnacle cluster in your live rock must have spawned somehow. Interesting thing- they're one of the very, very few sessile invertebrates that still practices internal fertilization. Instead of just releasing gametes into the water, they, uh, reach over with the relevant apparatus. As such, they have the largest relevant apparatus, in relation to body size, of any known animal. 

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