[lwkimbley]

Well I have about 40 fighting conch to trade. From .5" to 2" in length. I have 25 in my 6 foot reef tank and they glide along the sand and keep it white as snow. They also keep the glass clean too.
I would like to trade for any;
Soft Coral Frags
Button Poylps
Brain corals
Flower pot frag
Acro frags
Fish?
You make an offer. I will pay for shipment to you and you pay for shipment to me.

[Poseidon]

PM Sent....

Are you sure they are Strombus Alatus though? They usually need way more space then what you have described.... Can you post a pic?

[lwkimbley]

I will send a picture in a few minutes. I have checked on the internet and they match up shell and foot description

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by lwkimbley

They also keep the glass clean too.

Please describe the mechanics of this operation. In other words, please describe exactly how they "keep the glass clean." Do they actually climb on the glass walls of the tank? And, if so, how far up the glass do they travel?

Thanks!

[lwkimbley]

All the way to the top. The clean DSB then rock then glass. I have leathers, xenias, green star polyps, acros, and Zoos they have never harmed any of them. They keep my sand white as snow and the soft algae of my glass.

Here is a pic from a university my camera is full and needs to be downloaded. Mine are .5" to 2" the max size is 3 to 4 "
Also still wondering how they keep that glass clean, Check out their foot!

Originally Posted by Ninong

Please describe the mechanics of this operation. In other words, please describe exactly how they "keep the glass clean." Do they actually climb on the glass walls of the tank? And, if so, how far up the glass do they travel?

Thanks!

[lwkimbley]

Oh By the way this is max size. I put the .5" in my refugium to keep the sand and Miracle mud free of waste. O they also keep the acrylic fuge walls clean too.

Originally Posted by lwkimbley

All the way to the top. The clean DSB then rock then glass. I have leathers, xenias, green star polyps, acros, and Zoos they have never harmed any of them. They keep my sand white as snow and the soft algae of my glass.

Here is a pic from a university my camera is full and needs to be downloaded. Mine are .5" to 2" the max size is 3 to 4 "
Also still wondering how they keep that glass clean, Check out their foot!

[zhenya]

I don't believe this is Florida's Fighting Conch or Strombus alatus. The more I look at it the more it looks like a Melongena corona, predatory snail very common in Florida waters. Oyster drills is what they are, I believe.
http://www.seashells.org/seashells/kingscrown.htm

and here's a link to the pictures of the Florida fighting conch, please note the difference.
http://www.seashells.org/seashells/fightingconch.htm

[lwkimbley]

While completing my BS in Environmental Health I completed a course on Marine Biology. I had a Research paper 32 pages in all which led me from daytona beach, key west, and back to Tampa to research Conchs. I have seen and studied Queen Conchs, Horse Conchs, and Fighting Conchs. I have fighting Conchs in Trumpet Snail shells. The snails will take over an empty shell if needed. In fact I found a fighting conch with a two liter plastic bottle cap for a shell. Dont forget the crabs rip them from their shells and leave them homeless. Also on the page you quoted it says I quote "Color form and spine structure can vary greatly from one area to the next."

Originally Posted by zhenya

I don't believe this is Florida's Fighting Conch or Strombus alatus. The more I look at it the more it looks like a Melongena corona, predatory snail very common in Florida waters. Oyster drills is what they are, I believe.
http://www.seashells.org/seashells/kingscrown.htm

and here's a link to the pictures of the Florida fighting conch, please note the difference.
http://www.seashells.org/seashells/fightingconch.htm

[zhenya]

Well, there is no reason to argue over this, the easiest way to tell those appart would be to see if you can observe very prominent eye that Strombus alatus posess. That should end the confusion.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Well, there is no reason to argue over this, the easiest way to tell those appart would be to see if you can observe very prominent eye that Strombus alatus posess. That should end the confusion.

Here's a link to another page with some photographs of S.alatus, as you can see none of them have seconary spines ring near the front end of the shell. That's what confuses me.
http://www.gastropods.com/9/Shell_1329.html

[Poseidon]

I found this picture in Gene's (Zhenya) gallery, (posted with permission) this is what I remember mine to look like:



Of course I know there can be variation among the same species, but the distinctive "eye stalks" are what I was most interested in...

[zhenya]

Here's one more that you can use for comparing the eye... they are on a long eye stalks and have very prominent eyeball.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by lwkimbley

All the way to the top. The clean DSB then rock then glass. I have leathers, xenias, green star polyps, acros, and Zoos they have never harmed any of them. They keep my sand white as snow and the soft algae of my glass.

What you have is not Strombus alatus.

S. alatus is not physically capable of climbing the glass walls of the tank once they are larger than approximately 8-10 mm. S. alatus are only capable of cleaning that area of the glass that is close enough to the sand bed that it can be reached by propping themselves up against the glass while remaining on the sand bed's surface.

Here is a picture of one of my S. alatus. Unfortunately it isn't a close-up of the eyes but it does show it feeding on algal film on the glass.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Well, there is no reason to argue over this, the easiest way to tell those appart would be to see if you can observe very prominent eye that Strombus alatus posess. That should end the confusion.

There's no confusion at all. If his molluscs are climbing the walls of the tank, then they are not Strombus alatus. We don't even need to see them.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

There's no confusion at all. If his molluscs are climbing the walls of the tank, then they are not Strombus alatus. We don't even need to see them.

I agree, George. And, I wasn't confused at all , I was just trying to make sure that other members weren't.
To end any arguments that may be ensuing, I contacted Dr.Shemek for help in identification and here's his reply to my email.

Hi Gene,

The link to the picture the fellow provided was broken.

I went to your website, and looked through the thread. The animal pictured is Melongena corona, not Strombus alatus.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by zhenya

I agree, George. And, I wasn't confused at all , I was just trying to make sure that other members weren't.
To end any arguments that may be ensuing, I contacted Dr.Shemek for help in identification and here's his reply to my email.

Gene,

I was only replying to your comment about "ending the confusion." We know from the scientific literature that Strombus alatus cannot climb to the top of the tank and we both know that from personal observation, so I don't see why we need to see a picture other than in an effort to identify whatever it is. I am confident that we can rule out S. alatus.

I don't understand why it is particularly helpful to try to get a positive ID on the mollusc pictured because that's not a picture of any of the animals that are offered for sale. It's simply a picture found online that is supposed to be of Strombus alatus that was taken on 3/17/04 by a marine biology student by the name of Jonathan Francisco. It appears to be a picture of Melongena corona.

P.S. -- Here are a few photos that I found online of Melongena corona: http://www.jaxshells.org/mcorona5.htm

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

I don't understand why it is particularly helpful to try to get a positive ID on the mollusc pictured because that's not a picture of any of the animals that are offered for sale. It's simply a picture found online that is supposed to be of Strombus alatus that was taken on 3/17/04 by a marine biology student by the name of Jonathan Francisco.

George, he said:

Here is a pic from a university my camera is full and needs to be downloaded. Mine are .5" to 2" the max size is 3 to 4 "
Also still wondering how they keep that glass clean, Check out their foot!

This tells me that he's saying that his animals are the same in appearance. I just wasn't sure if all people could identify the sanil pictured and trade/buy it without knowing what it was.