Large nassarius snails?

[offthehook]

Sold as nassarius but I’m curious as I don’t think I’ve ever seen them this big and color. Seems to have the little door on the back like other nassarius snails, the inside if shell seems smooth with no ridges, snout seems solid in color and the trap door doesn’t seem to cover entire opening but I’m questioning wether it is a whelk or a nassarius snail. I got a few of them and the behavior so far seems the same but something has me questioning it. Posted a couple pics and a video . Any feedback would be appreciated

 

[Mark Goode]

Looks like nassarius to me. Do they bury themselves until there is food in the water?

 

[offthehook]

Looks like nassarius to me. Do they bury themselves until there is food in the water?

Yes, however I see them out from time to time without feeding but mostly stay buried I did see them eating a snail but Im pretty sure the snail was already dead. The don’t seem to bother anything so I’m hopeful they are just very large nassarius snails. Just never seen them this size or color

 

[EricR]

Yes, however I see them out from time to time without feeding but mostly stay buried I did see them eating a snail but Im pretty sure the snail was already dead. The don’t seem to bother anything so I’m hopeful they are just very large nassarius snails. Just never seen them this size or color

How did these end up working out for you?

I have a couple that are huge that look very similar in QT right now so curious.
I hope these things are safe and not predatory.
They look (basic shape, not color) and act like the smaller Nassarius Vibex (I think) that I've had for a long time so hoping for the best.

 

[offthehook]

How did these end up working out for you?

I have a couple that are huge that look very similar in QT right now so curious.
I hope these things are safe and not predatory.
They look (basic shape, not color) and act like the smaller Nassarius Vibex (I think) that I've had for a long time so hoping for the best.

They are doing fine. Haven’t bothered a thing. They are big but good cleaners. I have a clam too and haven’t bothered it a bit. On mine the door never shut tight. I think the conch and more predatory whelks have a tight more rigid trap door, the opening on mine look s a tad different than yours but that doesn’t mean anything necessarily and could just be the angle. The shell on mine are pretty smooth, again not sure if that matters.

 

[vetteguy53081]

How did these end up working out for you?

I have a couple that are huge that look very similar in QT right now so curious.
I hope these things are safe and not predatory.
They look (basic shape, not color) and act like the smaller Nassarius Vibex (I think) that I've had for a long time so hoping for the best.

This looks to be a welk snail

 

[EnterName]

Am I the only one that thinks picking up unidentified snails (or pretty much anything) with their bare hands could be a bad idea?

It's very likely fine in this case, but I'm really worried some day someone will post the same question with a cone snail in their hands...

 

[vittpsu21]

Looks like nassarius to me, mine all look this size and this way

 

[EricR]

This looks to be a welk snail

My LFS sold them as nassarius (of course) but I started to wonder if I should really trust that or not.
They've got a few weeks left in QT so I'll try to do some more research and mull it over.
*they bury themselves and haven't touched the couple of trochus snails in there with them so far

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Tough to say for sure from the pics, but I would compare with Nassarius olivaceus, the Olive Whelk.

For reference if it seems to be a match (uncertain if predatory, opportunistically predatory, or just scavenges large carcasses):

The only thing you're missing is that this snail - which, as far as I can tell is Nassarius olivaceus - is called an Olive Whelk, and is known to be predatory.

Most Nassarius species are scavengers/opportunistic predators (only going for dead/dying animals), but this specific species is known to actively hunt prey.

Yeah, not a lot of info on what they eat, unfortunately, so they may still prefer dead foods or be pretty particular with their live prey for all I know - I just know they've been reported to eat snails in a few cases (a few of the shops that I've seen offering these list them as whelks/semi-aggressive/refugium only), they've been documented eating bristleworms (though I don't know if the worms were alive or dead), and they've been documented not to feed on oysters.

Sort of yes and sort of no at this point - it seems to be the Olive Whelk, Nassariusolivaceus, which is reportedly predatory, but there's no evidence at present (at least not that I've seen) that they hunt live/healthy critters (or that they're capable of taking a healthy critter down) - the only study I've been able to find actually discussing specifics about its diet mentioned that it did not eat a few specific live critters (including oysters):

Yeah, there's an unfortunate lack of info on N. oliveaceus' diet - I've seen it referred to as a predator in scholarly articles and I've seen numerous references from hobbyists/businesses, but looking at it, I don't think I've seen any evidence yet (scholarly or otherwise) of them taking live prey (which would be consistent with the rest of the genus).

Personally, at this point, I'm hesitant to say that it killed your shrimp, but I wouldn't be surprised to find if it's more aggressive of an opportunistic carnivore than other members of the genus (if for no other reason than its size).

 

[keagan]

Am I the only one that thinks picking up unidentified snails (or pretty much anything) with their bare hands could be a bad idea?

It's very likely fine in this case, but I'm really worried some day someone will post the same question with a cone snail in their hands...

I seen what I hope was a joke post years ago on reef central with a picture of someone picking up a blue ringed octopus and asking what species it was.