Bannerfish Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Ive had this clam about 3mo now, maybe a little more. Seemed a bit stressed at first but it always stays open and its responsive to light and movement near it. About 2 days ago, i noticed it was pulling in some of its mantle, and i saw some hard looking white thing right there where the mantle was pulling in. it seemed to make the clam upset so today we picked up the clam and got the tweezers to see if it would come off. Turns out it was some type of creature that was either trying to burrow into the shell of the clam, or just some random creature that thought this spot on my clam would make a good home. Does anyone know what this is, and should i worry? Pretty sure we got it all out and most of its shell too. The pic is whatever we pulled out, its about half of the creature, the rest of it looked like white meaty stuff that just came apart while we were trying to pull it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Apparently i cant attatch any pics... lets try this instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 My vote is a vermetid snail, one of the larger types. I have the smaller one's in my tank. The mucous string was probably irritating the clam and causing it to keep part of it's mantle closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I'm assuming from you description it was very well attached to the shell and not just holding on like a snail would hold on. If so it sounds and looks to me like one of those fan worms that are often seen in sumps that make a hard calcium tube and I would consider benign outside of the physical irritation it was causing. If it actually was a snail I would be worried it's parasitic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 idk, i dont think it was a snail, if it was it was a tough one to get off! the shell of this thing looks like a spiral type shape, and it was actually like fused onto the shell of the clam. we actually broke apart the spiral shell into little pieces and this creature was living inside his little spiral shell. it was fairly large, the clam is around 3-4in long, so im guessing the little shell thing was between 1/4 - 1/2in long...? we have barious little barnacle things and filter feeder type creatures everywhere in the tank, but ive never seen one like this before, or this size. i hope its not parasitic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Vermetid snails are stationary. They don't look like your typical snails. The small one's have these purple to almost clear spirals that they live in, but the larger one's almost have a calcareous-like base, similar to your clam's shell. Here's the best picture I could find of what I am thinking of. Don't know if it's similar to what you had but that's my best guess. http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=700825 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Hmmm. I didnt see the feelers or tentacles on it, i only saw the broken shell. i showed the link to my husband and did a google search for pics, but he said thats not really what he saw. before i got the first clam i did look for any pests but didnt see any. i did not dip them either cause alot of people were talking about how stressful it is on the clam. it was at the lfs for weeks before i got it, it always looked happy.... If it is one of those snails, are my clams doomed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua-Dome Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 +1 vermetid. Harmless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 I'm throwing in another vote for vermetid. I have one who lives in the middle of a large montipora colony. They are harmless, other than they may slightly bother the coral/clam with their mucous feeding net occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 They are harmless. There have been over 100 species of vermetid snails identified already so there may be possible variations to the picture I showed you of other vermetid snail species. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannerfish Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 Ok, thanks for the info! it sure looks happier now that its gone, its mantle is fully expanded again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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