Pyramidelline snails

[samsdada]

I just recently lost a maxima clam.

After doing a little research I learned the culprit is the Pyramidelline snail or rice snail.

I have noticed that there are some of these little buggers hitching a ride on my astrea snails.

Does anyone know if these pyramidelline snails pose a threat to my other snails?

Will they pose a threat to any other tank inhabitants besides clams?

Will they die off if there are no clams for them to feed on?

Any info would be great as I have searched the net and found very little information on them.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Anonymous]

See the following reference:

Cumming, R. L. 1993 Reproduction and variable larval development of an ectoparasitic snail, Turbonilla sp. (Pyramidellidae, Opisthobranchia), on cultured giant clams, Bull. Mar. Sci 52(2): 760-771.

 

[Anonymous]

For those that cant get ahold of that, knop's book has some details on them.

They are specific to clams, and you would need to have quite a few before they can take down a clam

We really need to get more details into the hitchhiker FAQ, suprised that they were missed.

 

[samsdada]

Ok, thanks. Just as long as they will not hurt anything else in the tank.

Apparently they entered through the byssal opening and ate the clam from the inside. It died really fast like within 24 hours. It was fine one day and dead the next with just scraps of clam left on the inside.

No I see these little tiny snails everywhere that fit the discription of the pyramidalline snail exactly. Too bad I was not able to see them sooner but I didn't make a habit of inverting my clam to check.

Most reports talk about them being around the mantle. I only read one where they were reported to attack around the byssal opening, which was apparently the case with mine.

Thanks again.

 

[Anonymous]

That's not how they work, they dont eat the clam like that, they are vampire snails.

There's another one that will bore into the clam, the name escapes me, but you would know if that was the cause of death.

 

[Gumbo]

I had one type of pyramidelline attaching to astreas that has no desire to attach to my clams. From what I've read in Ron's column on RC, these parasites have a particular host and don't cross over. Astrea hosted rice snails won't bother clams and those attached to clams won't bother other snails.

 

[samsdada]

Well, whatever caused the clam's death, it was fast. The clam was alive, fully open and apparently healthy one day and dead the next. I never saw any of these snails around the mantle. In fact I never saw any of the snails until the clam was dead. Examination of the dead clam seemed to look as though it was eaten from the inside out. I could have sworn I read somewhere of an account where a clam was attacked from the byssal opening by these snails, but if they are more like vampires, sucking the juices and not eating the flesh, what could it have been?

Does anyone have any other ideas on what may have happened?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to highjack, but what's all this about parasitic snails that attach to astrea snails? I just had a snail wipeout in my tank. I lost almost 10 turbos and 3 trochus in about 2-3 weeks, most were in a five day period. They just became lathargic, stopped eating, and died. I only have 2 or 3 trubos left in my 72 gallon tank. Could this have been a parasite? It seems to me that it must have been a snail disease of some sort because water quality was top noch and no other animal in the tank was affected.

Thanks

 

[Minh Nguyen]

IME, pyramidelline snails are very specific. Clam snails will not attack snails. Snail parasites will not attack clams. There are lots of free living snails that look just like parasitic snails to the naked eyes.
The way your clam died (as written to me in your PM) seem tobe typical of clams that died due to running out of energy reserves. Parasitic snails can do that or a variety of other condition in your tank.
Did the Clam grew when you had him?
Parasitic snial do not attack the clam via byssus opening, but they do live there durring the day and climb up to the mantle to suck the juice out of the clam at night. The way I took care of these snails is to keep my clam on the sand bed, unattached. I would bring the clam out every weekend to clean them out until I see no more parasitic snails. I also observe my clams at night. I have a small suction tupe that I use to suck out any small snails on or near the mantle of my clams. After ablout 6 weeks, I was able to rid my tank of Clam parasitic snails.
Regarding the snail parasites, they often weaken and slowly kill the grazing snails that I have. I also clean out all the snails that I can reach every weekend. During other time, if I see a snail with parasites on him. I would take him out remove the parasites and then rinse him in fresh water. Doing this, and looking at all the snails I put into my tank, I was able to rid my tank of snail parasites also.
Minh

 

[Anonymous]

Just to elaborate on Minh's post, I cleaned my clams with a toothbrush over the entire shell and down by the byssal opening as well, based on his advice. Even if there are no apparent snails there may be eggs. I did it every day, and it worked for me, but that may be overcautious.