Snail eating snail??

allabout · Jul 27, 2012

Can anyone ID this snail please? It was apparently killing/eating an astrea snail. It's the smaller snail in the pictures, longer shell. It was on top of this snail for days. Generally the snails all get on top of each others shells, etc. but this was odd for a few reasons. 1) It stayed in the exact same spot, 2) When I knocked it off once (because the astrea was stuck on its back) it went back to the exact same spot, 3) I don't have any other snails that look like this one.

I pulled them out and pulled off the snail and there is definitely a tiny hole in the astrea's shell. The questionable snail is about as long as a nickel, maybe a bit more from one point of the shell to the other end.

I know there are pyramid snails that will kill other snails but I thought those were tiny. Do they get this large? Any help is appreciated!

ritter6788 · Jul 27, 2012

That is a Whelk. Kill it. They will eat snails and possibly clams if large enough. There are probably more in your tank. They are more nocturnal and easier to find at night with a light or just as the lights come on. I've had some in my tank about as big as a quarter.