Cone Snail?

[Ron99]

Have seen this little guy now and then and finally managed to snag him. Looks like a cone shell to me but opinions would be appreciated. it's maybe a little less than 1 cm long.

[Coincidentally]

I have a couple of these I bought some Nassarius Snails and they came with, very neat looking....I never have had problems with mine.

[Ron99]

If they are cone shell snails you should get rid of them. Cone shell's are one of the most venomous animals on earth and can kill you. When bigger they can kill and eat small fish.

[Coincidentally]

I will have to hunt them out then. Looking up the cone snail and they do not look like the pictures on line but mine is identical to yours.

[Drock169]

Thats a nassarius snail, at least i think it is, there is often two types of nassarius snails that come in, ones with shells like that, and ones with shell more like a whelks. If you are really concerned, put a piece of food in front of it, I 'm pretty sure cone snails shoot out a barb to catch they're prey.

[Ron99]

I'm not really convinced it's a type of nassarius. Every nassarius I have seen have pointier shells at the rear and this one is fairly flat and rounded. Here's a good link to many different cone shell snail shells:

http://www.coneshell.net/Pages/gl_gallery01.htm

[Drock169]

I think its that you've only seen Nassarius distortus and Vibex. There are other types, can't think of the scientific name of it, but there is also the orange spot turbo nassarius and i'm sure that type. Its more than just the shell you have to observe, its the actual animal. It you were going by the shell, then some conchs would look like cone snails, i.e. orange lip conch.

[Ron99]

Actually, I am pretty sure the ones sold as those large orange spot nassarius are actually a type of whelk that can be predatory as well. It is this:

http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_330.shtml

Which you can see has a different pointy shell as well and is different from the one I have.

So I'm still leaning towards cone shell.

[Ron99]

Success. The snail has been identified as this a marginella snail. Mostly scavengers but can prey on other snails and clams etc.

http://205606.aceboard.net/205606-20...Menke-1828.htm

So its back in the tank for now.

[vic622]

You answered my question with this, too!
I got a few of these mixed in with an order of nassarius from JL, 2 weeks ago, and was wondering if they were cones.
They sure do look like miniature cones, though.
Thanks for solving the mystery
Vic

Originally Posted by Ron99

Success. The snail has been identified as this a marginella snail. Mostly scavengers but can prey on other snails and clams etc.

http://205606.aceboard.net/205606-20...Menke-1828.htm

So its back in the tank for now.