Dead Snail

[Dana C]

Hi,
I found one of my new cerith snails lying upside down with a hitchhiker snail attached to him, he was on him for 2 days and when he left him the cerith shell was empty.
Would a snail kill another or did the cerith snail just die and the other snail decided to eat him?
The hitch hiker snail is a brown colour with a more rounded shell than the cerith it also looks like it has ridges on its shell, it has a dark brown trunk at the front.
Any comments would be helpful as I was going to get some more snails this week but don't want to add them if he is some kind of killer snail.

 

[ben1987]

probably eating off the dead one. never heard of a killer snail tbh

 

[Donya]

Predatory snails do exist. They're pretty uncommon in the aquarium world, so odds are you just saw a snail scavenging, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to ID what you have anyway. Can you post a picture? The description is a bit vague.

never heard of a killer snail tbh

Tulip snails, moon snails, some whelks, etc...

 

[SkiFletch]

Agree with Donya. There area also predatory snails that eat corals... As Donya mentions though, these are VERY uncommon

 

[Dana C]

Hi,
Thanks for your replys,
I have looked at loads of pictures of snails now and I think it was a whelk. I think it killed another cerith snail it was on its shell again then covered up the hole in the shell and when it moved on the shell was left empty. I know the cerith was still alive when he first attached to it.
I have removed him from the tank before anymore snails were killed.
Thanks for your help.