[JUNRL]

I was hoping I could find a CONCH at our LFS, but from what I've read, this is the closes look alike I could get. There are other better CONCH looking snails but have hermit crabs in them instead. Also, articles say that Conch can hop and that they see theirs cleaning the sand at daytime. Unfortunately, mine doesn't. Instead, it crawls at night and I don't think it knows how to hop. And at daytime, it looks like it's sleeping inside it's shell.
Are there nocturnal snails? Well, this one definitely is. And if You think this is not a good addition to my tank, I'll just return him to the sea.

Appreciate the help.

The first 2 pics taken at night, last 2 at daytime.

[ricksreef]

can you get a pic of the front of the shell? preferably one with the eyes showing.

[Ninong]

Looking at the eyestalks, are there obvious eyeballs on the ends of the eyestalks?

It's hard to guess without a clear, in focus picture of the aperture (the opening of the shell) but my first guess, based on the pictures you have posted so far, is that it could be Strombus luhuanus.

[JUNRL]

I really couldn't tell which is the eyestalk. All I can tell is that the long protrusion could be the probe or mouth.
If it's a S. Luhuanus, will it also be able to clean sand as good as a S. Alatus?
Here are some pic of it's aperture, he's still too shy to come out since I told him to pose for you.
'will send you another pic soon as his in the mood to show his face.
In the meantime, thanks.
jun.

[Ninong]

OK, I'm going to retract my previous guess that it could be S. luhuanus. (P.S. -- I must be getting senile in my old age. I failed to notice that it was climbing a rock vertically until zhenya pointed this out below!)

All Strombids have very distinctive eyes with very noticeable eyeballs at the end. I believe zhenya posted pics of his S. alatus that clearly show its eyes. I'll have to ask him. In the meantime, I will post a picture of one of mine that shows the eyestalks but, unfortunately, it doesn't really show the eyeballs all that well.

[JUNRL]

Is that really an eye? How'd you get him to look at the camera, did you call him? Just kidding
Is the eyestalk you're referring to, the one with what looks like an eyeball at the tip? or is it the slimmer one?
I would presume it's a daytime shot. But mine sleeps at daytime and works at night.
well, it's been more than an hour since his last pictorial and he hasn't come out yet and it's 12:30 am here, beginning to loose patience... I mean consciousness.
I'll probably give it a little more time, maybe 5 hours more.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by JUNRL

Is that really an eye? How'd you get him to look at the camera, did you call him? Just kidding
Is the eyestalk you're referring to, the one with what looks like an eyeball at the tip? or is it the slimmer one?

You seem to be confusing the proboscis with the eyestalks. There are two eyestalks and one proboscis pictured. The eyestalks are white and the proboscis is the dark, trunk-like thing between them. Both eyestalks have a smaller, slim appendage poking out from them but I can't remember its name right now. At the end of each eyestalk is a dark blue eyeball.

When conchs bury themselves in the sand bed, one or both of their eyestalks will protrude above the surface of the sand sort of like a submarine's periscope.

[JUNRL]

I see... so now that I know this snail of mine does have a proboscis, I will now have to look for the eyestalk, which I presume must have. What is it exactly we're trying to find out, is it: if it has eyestalks or the type of eyestalks.
Is the pic posted by Zhenya in his gallery or the forum.
Appreciate you taking time for this, it's just that I really want a conch and this the best I could find.

[Ninong]

If it is a member of the genus Strombus, it will have a very obvious "eyeball" at the end of the eyestalk. The eyes of other genera are different and don't look like "Strombus eyes."

[JUNRL]

OK. I'll try to get a pic of his eyestalks, if it ever shows up.
Thanks and good AM

[zhenya]

Guys, found that picture of the eyeball of the S.alatus.



And I also have a general shell shape of the above mentioned conch as well.


For what it;s worth, yours don't look like any of the Strombus species I had seen. Especially the foot, generally they donlt have the ability to use it to climb rocks at all and on one of your images it is clearly slimbing the rock.
Of course, I am no expert and perhaps some species do have this ability, I just simply don't know which ones.

PS. Here's exellent images of the S.alatus from Guido Poppe's( Eddie Hardy's website)
http://www.gastropods.com/9/Shell_1329.html

And this is a page to the pictures of various gastropods from the Family Strombidae.
http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_page...TROMBIDAE.html

PPS.I should post correction to what i had said about who that image of the S.alatus belongs to, it is Eddie Hardy, actually.
HTH.

[zhenya]

JUNRL,

I took a liberty to send you images to Dr.Shimek in hopes that perhaps he can help us identify your snail. I got a reply this morning and it's quite disturbing, at least to me. He suspects that it may be one of the cone shells, so be careful handling it untill further identification is possible. For a better chance of proper identification he needs clear, in focus images of the aperture with animal completely withdrawn.
I'll paste Dr.Shimek's responce here so you can read it for yourself...

Hi Gene,

I would like to see an image of the complete aperture with the animal withdrawn, and the given that the images are pretty blurry I can't get to species, but my guess is that it is a cone shell, but which one....

Most of the golden color is due to a proteinaceous covering of the shell called the periostracum. If that is removed the color pattern of the calcareous part of the shell will be clear and I can possibly identify it.

Anyway, tell your member that he/she should handle this animal carefully until we can either confirm what it is or isn't.

Cheers, Ron

If you would like to take better images, I would recommend taking it out of the tank using some type of tongs. DO NOT touch it with your hands! Place it in a shallow dish and take pictures of the aperture. You can post those images here and I will send them to Dr.Ron for ID.

[JUNRL]

Ok, so now I'm sacared, and thanks for the warning. From your initial observation, I think it's not a conch in my tank. Can a conch climb the glass?
I haven't been able to get it out of the tank yet, but here are a couple of shots that might help (I think it's the best I can get with only a T1). I'll sent more soon as I get it into a small glass container.
I can't say anything more about you guys, THANKS.
jun.

[JUNRL]

I did a little search on cone shells and have come to a conclusion that it is a cone shell, well, only my conclusion. The worst part of it is that it MIGHT BE POISONOUS I just couldn't find the right kind. I hope Dr. Shimek can.
Transferred it in the sump, just to be safe. Wouldn't want it harming my tank residents.

[Ninong]

I took the liberty of sending these latest pictures to Dr. Shimek myself because I believe zhenya may be busy today and unable to check the board. (His father is sick.)

Dr. Shimek is "off" until tomorrow morning but he may check his messages sometime today anyway.

I don't know if he will be able to make a positive ID with these shots because they do not show the animal fully retracted.

Just for my own information, what is the approximate size of this mollusk? I always have a hard time judging scale unless there is a ruler in the picture or something else of known size. I never know if I'm looking at a picture of a juvenile or an adult, especially if I have no idea what size it is.

As far as cone shells are concerned, you need to be aware of the fact that even a small juvenile could kill you. I AM NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS A DEADLY CONE SHELL, ONLY THAT YOU SHOULDN'T TAKE ANY CHANCES!

Never touch it with your hands because it is capable of extending its proboscis the length of its shell and could easily reach the fingers of someone holding it by the rear of its shell.

[Ninong]

JUNRL,

I am sending you a PM with additional instructions.

Thanks!




P.S. -- Where did this mollusk come from? Did you buy it???

[zhenya]

Ninong,

I was wondering this myself, from his initial post I understood that he bought it at the LFS but now I read at again and it appears that he may have caught it. I couldn't quite figure out his location from the abbreviation that he has in his profile. If he bought it from the LFS I think the people who owns the store should be warned, they may have some lawsuits on their hands soon...

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Ninong,

I was wondering this myself, from his initial post I understood that he bought it at the LFS but now I read at again and it appears that he may have caught it. I couldn't quite figure out his location from the abbreviation that he has in his profile. If he bought it from the LFS I think the people who owns the store should be warned, they may have some lawsuits on their hands soon...

zhenya,

OK, now that you raised the question, I see that I was mistaken when I first thought that the PHIL in his location meant Philadelphia. It means Philippines. Obviously his first name is Jun.

Hi Jun,

Did you get my PM on what sort of pictures Dr. Shimek would need to get a better ID?

[JUNRL]

Yes, I did get your PM, unfortunately I'm still waiting for it to show its entirety. And you're right, I'm from the Philippines, not Philadelphia, I wish I were.
I did get it from our LFS. In my enthusiasm to get hold of a conch, whatever type, I saw this snail and thought it was close enough and also an addition to my clean-up crew. Sea creatures in our LFS are pretty cheap unlike there in the States and snails are almost a giveaway, but not much to choose from.
The LFS guy just picked it up with his bare hands, so I figured it's just a snail, what harm can it do. Well, I'm wrong. Just like in the wilds, never trust anything.
This thing, whenever disturbed takes like forever before it crawls again. It's like waiting for an egg to hatch.
I'll sent new pics soonest.
Thanks again guys, you just might have saved my life.

[RadioPlay]

I would say it is part of the conidae family. Not sure what conus species. Here is a link for comparison. The are quite a few cone snails with red bodies.

http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_page...y_CONIDAE.html

All I know is if I was working on my tank I wouldn't want to worry about stressing out a cone snail moving my LR. Best remedy is bring it back to LFS and explain to them what they just sold you. If anything it should be good leverage to negotiate a trade.