Strombus naughtiness?

[ksfulk]

Anyone know if stombus spp. broadcast fertilize or not? I saw two of my strombus (fighting conches) following each other around rather closely, and upon closer inspection, there appeared to be "another" appendage linking the two together. I read through Renee's (@Lionfish Lair ) clean up crew post and didnt see mention of eggs/viablity in aquarium, and oddly, I couldnt find much online about it either (no one cares about conches doing the naughty!), so I figured I would post up the few pictures I was able to get and see if anyone had the information I was looking for. The pair were right at the front glass, but the lights were ramping down, so the pictures are a bit difficult to see with clarity whats going on. Still, you can see the two linked by an appendage that is not an antenna, and retracted with a "puff" that dispersed into the water column quickly and tucked back up into the rear strombus' shell.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I'd bet money on that being a p.enis. Especially with the puff. I've never heard of them successfully producing offspring, however. Please keep us updated. That is SO cool. I had a pair for 10 years and never saw that.

 

[FarmerTy]

Oops, nevermind, looked at something else.

 

[dodgerblew]

Snail pornography

 

[Lionfish Lair]

 

[ksfulk]

Based on how the "appendage" in question retracted and how the strombus was moving along with the presumed female, I'd say I need to check to see if Barry White was playing over the basement sound system. :cool:

I'll keep my eye out for any more developments... Im just excited that I was lazy today and didnt go down to feed the tank until this evening, and I happened to have my phone on me!