Nassarius snail poison discharge Saliva

[smile57]

Well, late last night i noticed my Nassarius snail surround my Large Conch with a saliva type liquid web. To help the Conch i wiped it off while it was still in the water. 10 mins later there was same type of saliva was over parts of my rock which the Nassarius snail was leaving behind?

This morning i found a little more saliva on the conch, at this point the conch was dead. Also, i noticed my Lemon peel angel as well as a blue chromis breathing hard. 20 mins later they both were dead ?


What is this secretion the Nassarius snail leave behind which caused all of this death?

 

[JohnK]

Where did the nassarius snails come from? There are different kinds, some are predetory. If they were cheap and came from ebay you might have a problem...

Edit, the reefkeeping magazine archives seem to be down at the moment, but this thread has links to pics of the good and the bad ones. http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/116051-nassarius-snails.html

 

[smile57]

John,
I bought them from ReefCleaners.org.

 

[stingythingy45]

Even if they were predatory whelks I don't think they attack using saliva.

 

[smile57]

It was the weirdest thing i've ever seen. The conch was moving then it was surrounded with this clear saliva. Then stringy saliva all over my rock. All and all killed 3 of my best looking things in my tank, 1 Blue lightning Chromis, Conch, Lemon Peel Angel. Im thinking its some type of ammonia saliva to disable the creature then eat it.

I've been doing some research.

 

[tjbell]

My nassarius will randomly leave a stringy patch also. Unless this is just regular goo?

 

[mrclam]

Yes I have also seen my nassarius leave behind a mucous film where they were crawling. Never had it harm any fish or corals so it might be worth checking to make sure your losses weren't from another issue?

 

[Curren007K]

The snails do leave behind their mucus film where ever they crawl, it's never hurt anything in my tank. It was on some of my corals once that seemed agitated they were being crawled on, I sprayed it off with a turkey baster and it dissipated like the rest.

How have your parameters been, maybe it was a coincidence?

 

[BigZ]

I have never had problems with these snails. Both kinds. For some reason i have had both kinds of nassarius snails. I've had a 2 in black snail for 2 yrs. and it never hurt a soul. At the moment i have a 2.5 in. Grayish black one that is not even hurting anything. The first snail is dead. But should i worry about the second one. I think it could be another issue as it seems people have come in contact with these guys and it seems like nothing happened. Good luck, hope you find out whats truly wrong.