snail parasites?

[ajaguilar]

Looked close at some of my ramshorn snails and saw something strange. At first it looked like they had shorted antennas coming out of there shells. Very close examinations show what look like tentaculs or worms coming out and kinda hitting the glass sometimes. They stay attached to the snail. There diameter is about the same as the snails antenna but it clearer and shorter and they wiggle faster. I would take a picture but they are too small.
Anybody ever see this before. You need a magnifying glass to see them.

 

[jlk]

Just a possibility but they may be baby leeches... leeches live on & feed off of snails.

 

[ajaguilar]

Could be I have a pretty natural tank with dragonfly nymphs, mayfly nymphs and yes leeches. However the leeches are bigger, darker and usually are under the gravel, but i guess it could be babies or a different species.

 

[jlk]

Yeah, unfortunately, I am all too familiar with leeches. The babies I have are reddish to greyish in color (depending on how small they are) while the adults are quite dark. I honestly dont know if mayfly or dragonfly nympths would feed on snails.

 

[ajaguilar]

Have you seen leeches on the snails like i described? Yes I know what i saw one the snails weren't mayfly or dragonfly nymphs

 

[jlk]

I never examined them closely (should have) but the snails are the prime suspect in my leech infestation. As I have done a ton of research on leeches since this began, I discovered they feed quite readily on snails & can even lay eggs on them...