Help with a snail ID please

[Reeffreak]

I found this snail on my glass last night and I am wondering if it is good or bad. I have since thrown him in the sump just to be cautious. I don't have any pics of this yet, but I will try tonight.

It is slightly smaller than a pea and it is not a standard snail shape. So it is not shaped like a turbo grazer, astrea or tilted conical, I guess like a narcissus. There is a point at the top, but then there are random protrusions or spikes on its body. Any help will be appreciated.

I will most certainly try and find him in my sump and take a photo tonight.

Steve

 

[Will C1]

not too positive with out a pic but i have seen astera and cerith snails with spikes on them, i could tell better with a pic.

 

[Reeffreak]

took forever, but I finally found it again and was able to take some pictures. The large copper looking cirlce in some ofthe pics is a penny for size reference. Still looking an ID if anyone can help.

 

[Len]

Due to the sheer number of gastropod species, this ID might be impossible. I think you did the best thing by removing it to the sump for observation. I find it doubtful that it's carnivorious, but better to be safe then sorry. FWIW, this could very well be a juvenile of a popular/common species (some species of Trochidae, perhaps).

 

[Will C1]

looks cool 8) wait till its a penny size then you can deffinately tell what it is.

 

[DustinDorton]

IMO its an astrea snail. There is one species that keeps that spikey, compressed shell its whole life. "Normal" astrea (A. tectum or americana) snails look identical to that while they are still small. The spikes wear off in time and they start to assume the normal cone shape. Did you add anything from the Caribbean to your tank recently? It would take a very very well fed astrea 6 months to a year to get that big, did you witness any spawns that long ago?

Dustin

 

[wombat1]

I asked Rob Toonen for help on this one, because I thought it was such a beautiful snail. Here's his response:

It's called a "star snail" -- one of the many species of Astraea that have fringes on the shell. It's impossible to tell from the picture for sure which one it is, but it's like to be a species such as heliotropium or phoebia (see pics below). There is a *lot* of variation in this group (e.g., see this page http://nighthawk.tricity.wsu.edu/museum ... nidae.html for some examples of the variation in spines in the turbinid snails).
Rob

http://www.molluscs.net/gallery/angarii ... ebia01.jpg

http://nighthawk.tricity.wsu.edu/museum ... ropium.JPG