Help with ID of 'BumbleBee Snail'

[Wreck Ferret]

Hi Guys & Ladies,

At my LFS they have some ‘BumbleBee Snails’. They have black and yellow bands, just like a bumblebee, and a very mobile ‘trunk’
They are about 1-2cm long and the trunk is about 5mm or so (USA ½� - ¾� long , trunk 1/8�)

Any help with the usual/ normal. Questions:
What are they really called?
Will they be ok in a reef?
Will they hurt anything?
Reference material about them?


TIA

Ian


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Plan the Dive; dive the Plan.

[rshimek]

Hi Ian,

I have seen some photos of some so-called bumble bee snails, but was unable to obtain a positive identification. They appear to be a species of common small whelk, and as such are probably not reef safe.

I have also seen references to a "bumble-bee Nassarius," but cannot confirm that it is indeed a Nassarius (it may be, there are about 100 species of Nassarius). If it is the same species referred to the first paragraph it would be a disaster to put a bunch in a reef tank.

If anyone out there wants to send me one or two of these for a positive identification, contact me by email.

Cheers, Ron

[bjmumy]

Ron & Ian,

I have some "bumblebee" snails I bought from Jason at Premium Aquatics. Here is one of them:



I don't know what kind of snail they actually are, but I can tell you that they seem to be completely reef safe. They are generally on rocks or in the sand and rarely on the glass. They don't move nearly as fast as nassarius (I have 50 of those, too) or even nerites, for that matter, nor are their feet as big as nassarius, but as you can see, they do have a "snout" type thing like the nassarius have. I would be interested in knowing exactly what they are if you can find out, Ron. Are these what your LFS has, Ian?

Brian

[bjmumy]

P.S., I probably should have mentioned that they are all about 1-1.5 cm in length.

[bjmumy]

Yes, Larry, they are pretty neat looking. They are actually prettier without the coraline growth like the one in the picture has. Jason has had them in his reefs for awhile now and has been selling them quickly because they are so interesting looking. He says they are quite the little detritus eaters and so far, I'd have to agree. They don't eat algae that I can tell, but when they are on a rock, you can see the area around them appears cleaner than the rest.

[rshimek]

Hi,

Nice picture, but I'd still need to see one or a shell to be sure. A lot of snail identification is based on small shell details not visible in that photo - such as folds on the inside of the aperture, etc.

I would still vote for calling it a small whelk, probably it scavenges when it can't get the appropriate food.

I really wouldn't consider it reef safe, but...hey, it ain't in my tank...

Cheers, Ron

[Wreck Ferret]

I knew I could count on the gang.

Brian,Yep they are the ones. Great Photo, a positive ID is so much with a photo.

Bought four today, and just to be different two went straight on the glass. One 'walked' straight up and out of the water!!! A little confused/ shocked by the move maybe!!

Do PA have them listed as BumbleBee or another name.

Ian



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Plan the Dive; dive the Plan.

[bjmumy]

Ian,
Jason at PA just calls them bumble bee snails. I'm not sure if he even knows what they are. He just described them as detritus eaters which bury themselves in the sand. Mine behave like larger, slow nassarius snails. At any rate, I think they're about the neatest looking snails.

Brian

[Larry M]

That's an attractive little guy, ain't it?


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Larry M

See my tanks at Northern Reef