[jbicb3]

Does anyone know anything about the Moonsnail? My grand daughter went to Galveston this past weekend, and brought me 3 of these, along with a Hermit crab in one of the Moonsnail shells.

The shell looks like this:

And the actual snail is several times larger (diameter) than the shell when it comes out. It also seems to leave a large slime trail. Right now, they are in a little 10 gal tank I set up, but wanted to know if they can go into my 75 gal FOWLR tank.

Here is a picture of the snail on the glass. Also in the picture are a couple of pieces of seaweed brought back from Galveston. Can anyone identify it, and do you know if it would be suitable for my tank?

[Ninong]

I'm familiar with the red foot moon snails found in Monterey Bay. They are kelp eaters. I'm not familiar with the snails that you have from Galveston so I decided to see what I could find. According to this source, they bore into clams: http://www-bioc.rice.edu/precollege/...ces/shell4.htm

[jbicb3]

Originally Posted by Ninong

I'm familiar with the red foot moon snails found in Monterey Bay. They are kelp eaters. I'm not familiar with the snails that you have from Galveston so I decided to see what I could find. According to this source, they bore into clams: http://www-bioc.rice.edu/precollege/...ces/shell4.htm

Thank you. I don't have any clams, just a lightning whelk, but he's probably safe. The main thing I would be worried about would be introducing a disease into my main tank. I guess I'll see how they look in a couple of weeks, and take it from there.

What about the seaweed, have you seen anything like it?

[zhenya]

I'm not sure what that algae is but the snail is Polinices duplicatus. As Ninong had indicated, it preys on clams and other large snails. I found few shells along New Jersey's shore this September. They are extremely large snails, 2-3 inches.

Here's a link where you can see how this snails mix their eggs with sand to cement it into a peculiar looking collar
http://www.manandmollusc.net/Mystery...ell_steve.html

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by jbicb3

I guess I'll see how they look in a couple of weeks, and take it from there.

They will starve to death if there is no appropriate food source for them in your tank.

What about the seaweed, have you seen anything like it?

I really don't know anything about the local (Gulf Coast) seaweeds.