Killer conch

[Jill & Brian]

I just got a 'queen conch' and yesterday it jacked one of my astrea snails. I woke up in the morning and saw them foot to foot, as if they were stuck toghether at the feet. When I came home from work, a hermit was in the snail's shell. From the pictures and the descriptions above, I think I may have a whelk and not a conch. It looks a lot like the top picture in Nate's post. Also the guy is never in the sand. it is either on the rocks or the glass, and has been since I got him (which is frustrating since I got him to clean the sand) Hmmm, I guess I will try to take a picture and post it on RC for an ID.

 

[NateHanson]

Check the eyes. That should make it pretty clear. Conchs have very distinctive eyes.

 

[Bidadari]

A queen conch can climb glass and rocks and IME it's an excelent sand cleaner. Mine constantly (24/7) eating algae on the sand and glass. The only thing it will get pretty big.
A fighting conch however can't climb and will hide in the sand for weeks and only come out for a few days to eat. Both of them however are very peaceful, never bother other inverts or corals.

 

[NateHanson]

Hmmm. Not looking so good for my doughnuts this morning. Just read this post by the good Dr. over on RC.

Fighing and queen conchs CANNOT eat meat. They lack the digestive capabilities for it. So, the predatory/scavenging nature of this animal is a characteristic that indicates it is not a conch.

I should learn to be more careful with my doughnuts.

 

[paulr1173]

Hey guys thank you for all the great info. After looking over it and R/C I belive it was a whelk. The body looked just like the first pic Nate posted. I wish I knew this sooner.

 

[Jill & Brian]

Yeah, my guy has no eyes to speak of. Long elephant looking snout, and two pointy looking eye stalks with no pupil definition. Definately a whelk (since he is a big fan of snail meat too)

-Brian

 

[TheUltimateNoob]

woohoo. donuts on nate at the next meeting!!

 

[NateHanson]

Yes, you can all help yourselves (even though I only owe Paul). I think I'll probably get a bunch of doughnut holes, and I'll set them in the back of the room next to the coffee. (Kind of like the one's at every other meeting )

Nate