Spikey Black Snail Id

[HappyGeorge]

Afraid I can't get a picture of it yet, it's about finger nail sized and has a solid coloured shell, virtually black and the shell is helix shaped and incredibly spikey, very cool looking but can't seem to find an image or an id anywhere. Any of you experienced saltys any idea what it is?

 

[woody88]

Afraid I can't get a picture of it yet, it's about finger nail sized and has a solid coloured shell, virtually black and the shell is helix shaped and incredibly spikey, very cool looking but can't seem to find an image or an id anywhere. Any of you experienced saltys any idea what it is?

It's a milligen snail! lol!

 

[HappyGeorge]

Yay, boom boom.

 

[woody88]

You was asking for that! lol!........................And I could'nt resist! lol

 

[Donya]

This is normally the type of thing that would require a pic to do well, since nothing comes to mind for me only knowing the color and presence of spikey projections. I don't really understand what you mean by helix shaped, since that made me immediately think of this:

http://www.gastropods.com/Shell_Images/C-Conus/Callostracum_gracile_3.jpg

but I have a feeling that's not heading in the right direction. So...

Shell: how pointy is this beast, more flat/round or more like a Cerith?
Spikes: flattened, rows, thin, wide, evenly distributed...?
Operculum: knobbly, thick, smooth, flat, any obvious growth pattern like spirals...?

 

[HappyGeorge]

Not quite that spiralled, I would love to take his picture but he's is in the shadows under the reef plate, where my hand won't go and my flash can't see. Apart from the helix thing can I go for "yes all of the above". I see him now I'm going to try and catch him, wish me luck.

 

[woody88]

This is normally the type of thing that would require a pic to do well, since nothing comes to mind for me only knowing the color and presence of spikey projections. I don't really understand what you mean by helix shaped, since that made me immediately think of this:

http://www.gastropods.com/Shell_Images/C-Conus/Callostracum_gracile_3.jpg

but I have a feeling that's not heading in the right direction. So...

Shell: how pointy is this beast, more flat/round or more like a Cerith?
Spikes: flattened, rows, thin, wide, evenly distributed...?
Operculum: knobbly, thick, smooth, flat, any obvious growth pattern like spirals...?

Blimey Donya!....You don't half know yer snails!.................You've lost me! lol!

HG!..............Just call it a milligen!

 

[HappyGeorge]

Got him.

 

[lewiss]

That looks cool!!!!

 

[Donya]

Ah! Yep, that's a whole group of spikey snails I forgot about in my last post lol. Looks to be in the Murex family. There are a few similar-looking dark ones but I would guess it's in the Chicoreus genus at least. Maybe Chicoreus brunneus. That would mean it's a predatory snail, or at least a carnivore, but unfortunately I don't know a whole lot about the diets and behavior of that group. It may also get a bit on the big side to be safe with small snails. Try offering it some raw scallop meat and see if it has a munch. At any rate, if you see it harassing any other livestock and can't/don't want to keep it, I'd be very surprised if there weren't other salties in the area interested in that snail.

 

[HappyGeorge]

Brilliant thanks Donya. The photo doesn't do its bizarreness justice, it is incredibly light for its size and has a tiny shell opening and foot in relation to its overall size. I think there are maybe 3 in there. I saw one on rock when I put it in tank but was too busy to try and id, then found a tiny one in the water after I had lifted the live rock out.
Strange movement pattern, they sit still for hours and then you turn around and they have vanished, the one I moved and photographed last night didn't move all the while I was doing the photos and editing them. Then in the time it took to write my post here it had made it back to the LR pile and vanished.
Nice to know I have something unusual in there, and not sure I will be in any hurry to get rid of him unless he starts causing problems.

 

[Donya]

Good to hear that you will be hanging onto the snails. On another less-friendly forum that shall not be named, I have read too many instances of people tossing out various potentially incompatible inverts without realizing that someone else would've happily taken or even paid good money for it, so unfortunately that always runs through my head now whenever I see those sorts of animals up for IDing.

 

[HappyGeorge]

To be honest I'm more the other way, this tank came complete with a couple of dodgy looking crabs, but they have been with the Live Rock I got in a lovely reef set up for 2 years, and I like them so they get to stay in spite of the warnings and until they prove to be damaging. I have no basis for my decisions other than a deep down feeling that in general they probably do more good than harm, but of course I don't have any expensive corals to worry about................having said that if someone wants a nice spikey black snail for £1000 who am I to stand in the way?