Hitch hiker snail. Conical shaped with snout

[localhost]

I see this little guy mostly at night. He came with some LR. It has a whitish colored foot. It appears to have a purple tint to his dark shell. It has a snout like a nassarius snail. Anybody have a clue what it is and is it safe?

 

[Fluff]

It looks like a welk. A predatory snail and will prey on your other snails. I'd get rid of it.

 

[localhost]

Thanks.

 

[Jermz79]

yup a Welk! I have a thread around here some where that show a great pic of a nassarius Vs. welk, If the snail itself has a leopard print it's a welk. You have to look close to see the print but you'll see it.

After you take it out keep checkin for them they reproduce like crazy!!!

Here's the link to that picture. The Welk is the one in the background.


http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0504/nass_vs_whelk.jpg

 

[localhost]

I've got some nassarius snails so I knew it wasn't that. Funny thing is I was looking for a couple more pieces of LR at the LFS this weekend and saw the same snail on a piece of rock there. I asked the guy and he also confirmed that it was a whelk and told me to remove. The whelk came out last night and is no longer with us.

Once again, thanks everybody.

 

[Fluff]

Just wanted to share a picture. For those who may have doubt that welks need to be removed, I pulled this one out of my tank tonight. Thought I had gotten them all. I'm not sure that's possible. He's munching on an astrea snail.

 

[steve r]

so the leopard pattern is on the foot correct? i have some small snails with snouts but the foot is white like a nassarius.

steve r

 

[localhost]

so the leopard pattern is on the foot correct? i have some small snails with snouts but the foot is white like a nassarius.

steve r

The welk in my tank had a white foot. Look at the pics above. Could be just a different species.

 

[Fluff]

The bottom of the foot is white. The rest of the flesh is patterned.