Hitchhiker Snails

[CloudReefer]

Hello, got a couple of snails that came along with a small turbo I picked up a few weeks ago. Can anyone help ID?

I think ID1 might be a limpet.

No idea on ID2.

I know they're both snails because they've moved and when you touch 'em they suck down onto the turbo's shell.

Thanks!

 

[mtfish]

Those are called slipper snails. Looks like an oyster but actually a gastropod. Crepidula fornicata is the species.

 

[CloudReefer]

Those are called slipper snails. Looks like an oyster but actually a gastropod. Crepidula fornicata is the species.

Both are slipper snails? They have very different shells.

What i could find says they are filter feeders? Any concerns in a mixed reef?

Thanks!

 

[mtfish]

One just looks bigger to me, so yes both the same in my opinion. Not 100% sure, but I think they feed mainly on film algae.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Both are slipper snails? They have very different shells.

What i could find says they are filter feeders? Any concerns in a mixed reef?

Thanks!

Unless you see one sticking out a long mouth, then yeah, they're both slipper snails/slipper limpets - in this case at least that top one is not Crepidula fornicata, though (the shell spirals the wrong way); you may have two different species, but I can't tell from the second pic. Regardless, they're harmless, and as you've gathered, they're filter feeders (feeding on phyto and tiny particles in the water column). Not a cause for concern at all.

 

[Shon]

(the shell spirals the wrong way)

I wonder?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I wonder?

Haha, it's possible, just extremely unlikely.

 

[CloudReefer]

Cool thanks for all the info everyone! So far haven't seen any kind of proboscis but I'll keep an eye on 'em.

I don't think any of them have a counter-clockwise spiral to them. The slipper snails don't seem to have any spiral at all in fact, more like a limpet's shell.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I don't think any of them have a counter-clockwise spiral to them. The slipper snails don't seem to have any spiral at all in fact, more like a limpet's shell.

Yeah, it's not like a traditional snail shell/ram's horn spiral, but slipper snail shells typically curve up a bit on one side toward the pinnacle on the shell - Crepidula fornicata's curves slightly left (counter-clockwise).

I haven't looked closely enough at slipper snail taxonomy yet to know if any curve clockwise, but at first glance, I thought your specimen's shell curved right. That said, looking at your pics more closely now, I'm second guessing which way yours is curving (and some specimens even in species with specific curves don't display a discernible curve) - the shell still isn't quite right for C. fornicata, but there are a ton of different species in the genus that it could be, or it could be a different genus but still a slipper limpet.

So far haven't seen any kind of proboscis but I'll keep an eye on 'em.

If you do see a long proboscis, that'd indicate hoof snail - also harmless, but feeds either on its host waste, or on food brought into range by the host's movement.