Bumpy black and white snail

[BoxOOcean]

What is this creature?

How likely is he to cause mischief in the reef tank?

 

[Diesel]

That's a awesome looking snail.
Looks like a Nassarius Vibex with the little antenna.
Maybe @Lionfish Lair can shed some truth over this.











#reefsquad

 

[Chrisfish]

I was going to say, not sure if it's bad but it's pretty awesome looking:D

 

[steve&mari]

I believe @Diesel is correct and agree it's a pretty awesome shell. I'm sure others will also chime in.

 

[TheEngineer]

Do the antenna stalks have eyes on the ends? I've always had a really hard time distinguishing between whelks and some nass snails. I'm following along to find out what it is :)

 

[jsker]

This what I found Scaphella junonia here is a link

 

[Lionfish Lair]

That looks like an Engina to me, like an Engina carolinae or histrio or similar species.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

And I should add that you ought to remove it....

 

[TheEngineer]

Good guess by me! A whelk :) Even the blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then. Ha!

 

[TheEngineer]

@Lionfish Lair I recall, maybe incorrectly, that whelks can generally be identified by having a pointed shell, eyes on the ends of their antenna and something about the bottom that you've said before but I can't recall what specifically. Is that right?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

There's actually a few things to look for, but many of them are not definitive. People go by the "leopard print" of the skin and the presence of a prominent operculum. With the OPs snail, you can tell the genus from the shell pattern and shape.