What tiny snail is this?

Glacern · 2026-09-23T15:17:43-0400

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Haven’t seen him before. Found him crawling on rocks today!

wiseball · 2026-09-23T15:19:37-0400

Looks like a trochus snail or perhaps a tectus, kind of hard due to the spotting but it seems like its related to either of these!

Baldyreef · 2026-09-23T15:19:53-0400

seems like a trochus or astrea to me, I'm leaning towards astrea

Glacern · 2026-09-23T15:19:54-0400

wiseball said:
Looks like a trochus snail or perhaps a tectus, kind of hard due to the spotting but it seems like its related to either of these!

Are they safe do you think?

Glacern · 2026-09-23T15:20:21-0400

Baldyreef said:
seems like a trochus or astrea to me, I'm leaning towards astrea

I have 5 trochus in my tank no astrea but do you think this little guy is safe to put back with corals?

saltwaterfish.com · 2026-09-23T15:20:28-0400

Looks alot like a trochus, they are reef safe and great cleaners.

Glacern · 2026-09-23T15:20:45-0400

saltwaterfish.com said:
Looks alot like a trochus, they are reef safe and great cleaners.

Thank you!

wiseball · 2026-09-23T15:21:10-0400

Baldyreef said:
seems like a trochus or astrea to me, I'm leaning towards astrea

Yep it could totally be astrea, I was thinking trochus due to the spotting, but both are most likely the identification!

wiseball · 2026-09-23T15:21:40-0400

Glacern said:
Are they safe do you think?

Yep totally safe for the reef tank, actually beneficial whatever it is!

Baldyreef · 2026-09-23T15:24:01-0400

wiseball said:
Yep it could totally be astrea, I was thinking trochus due to the spotting, but both are most likely the identification!

the spotting was really throwing me off too especially because astrea can have the spotting too

Baldyreef · 2026-09-23T15:24:30-0400

wiseball said:
Yep totally safe for the reef tank, actually beneficial whatever it is!

I agree with wiseball definetly an algae eater no matter what it turns out to be

ChrisPchef · 2026-09-23T15:56:07-0400

at first it looked like a stomatella, can you post some more pictures?

Baldyreef · 2026-09-23T16:00:41-0400

ChrisPchef said:
at first it looked like a stomatella, can you post some more pictures?

I have an abundance of stomatella snails in my reef, this doesn't seem to be one as they are very flat and don't have the same shell type

ChrisPchef · 2026-09-23T16:05:07-0400

Baldyreef said:
I have an abundance of stomatella snails in my reef, this doesn't seem to be one as they are very flat and don't have the same shell type

You are right sorry about that. After writing a response I went back to check out the photos. Looks like a good guy to me!

Baldyreef · 2026-09-23T16:09:26-0400

ChrisPchef said:
You are right sorry about that. After writing a response I went back to check out the photos. Looks like a good guy to me!

no need to be sorry we all make mistakes, stomatellas look almost like they put a snail in a hydraulic press, theyre really great little algae eaters who fit in tight spaces, truly underrated IMO