I have both Turbo fluctuosa/fluctuosus (Mexican turbos) and Turbo undulatus (zebra turbos) in the same tank. The T. undualtus are newest, having been in for a few months. The T. flucts always become active when the light gets turned on and do their usual routine of going up to the top for morning handouts before going elsewhere in the tank; they're active through most of the day and once the light is out, they pretty much stop and rest. The undulatus on the other hand about a week after introduction began to operate on a purely nocturnal schedule. Since then they've been going back to the same spot in the rockwork each morning along with my nocturnal urchin (it's pretty strange seeing a couple large snails and an urchin crammed into a hole together) and don't budge until about 1hr after lights out - then the snails and urchin come out and eat.
When I have seen T. undulatus in pet stores, they always seem to be inactive even if healthy, but I also tend to see that with T. flucts. I'm currently trying to figure out if it is truely a nocturnal vs. diurnal pattern I'm seeing or if it's a behavior to avoid competition with the T. flucts. I've seen similar avoidance behavior in other inverts, but don't have the ability to test it by moving one or the other species this time. Has anyone else out there with T. undulatus observed the same nocturnal behavior pattern when they're the only large herbivore in the tank?
When I have seen T. undulatus in pet stores, they always seem to be inactive even if healthy, but I also tend to see that with T. flucts. I'm currently trying to figure out if it is truely a nocturnal vs. diurnal pattern I'm seeing or if it's a behavior to avoid competition with the T. flucts. I've seen similar avoidance behavior in other inverts, but don't have the ability to test it by moving one or the other species this time. Has anyone else out there with T. undulatus observed the same nocturnal behavior pattern when they're the only large herbivore in the tank?
