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jammre

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Need help Id-ing this one. My LFS said he's seen this one time called a "Funny snail" but never seen it again. His guess was some sort of cowry, possibly from Fiji. (My Guess is that his distributor didn't know what it was either, hence the name funny snail)

Here's what I observe:
...Shell is about 1 1/2 inches, very smooth with a leopard-ish patern.
..Lives beneath the substrate
...appears to be reef safe, hasn't bothered anything, near as I can figure it has been in my tank for 3 months, min. (that's the last time I added anything big enough for it to be hiding on)
...Hides A LOT I have only seen this one other time in that 3 months, I have looked at night, too.
...Today was my first opportunity to see it eat, and it is deffinately carnivorous, (don't know if it's omnivorous) it stole some meat right out of the Sun Coral.
...Has a "periscope" similar to a Necsarius but also a very long, almost elephant-like mouth.
...May be coincidence, but it was flipped on its back to eat the meat, but it may have just ended up that way from falling off the sun coral.

Sorry for the hazy picture, the only camera I had available was my Cell phone. I have other pics from other angles if you need them.[/img]
 

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Anonymous

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It could be a Cypraea tigris, but from that picture I wouldn't give 100% odds on that ID. Can you get a picture of the aperture (opening) of the shell? If it's a slit and serrated (rough on the edges like a saw) on the sides, that would pretty much confirm it.

Regards,
David Mohr
 

jammre

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I looked at other pics of Cypraea tigris and that's certainly not it. The aperature is more round, like that of a Nescarius or a turbo, the shell is also coiled. I'm not sure my pics are appearing with these posts. The pic included w/this post is of the direct-on view from the very back. It's a curled shell. I took all the pics I could before the little guy zipped back under the substrate, He was only out for maybe 2 minutes.

This pic is even fuzzier than the other one, the front part of the shell has spots in the light tan color. The tan color looks darker in the pic than it actually is.
 

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investigator1

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I am the BEST at identification!

This picture link below is of a MALE snail. Female coloration is more drab. Which is what you have in your pictures.

http://www.firama.com/seashells1/1746/index.asp

Nassarius Pfeifferi

Shell ID: 1746
ItemType: Seashell
Family: Nassariidae
Genus: Nassarius
Species: pfeifferi
Founder: Philippi, 1844
Locality: Portugal
Dimension: 15mm
Condition: F++/G
Collector information: Cacela Velha,Ria Formosa, Alg .Taken by local fishermen in sand and mud at low tide. 2002.
 

jammre

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I would say it is some sort of snail similar to that one. The biggest difference I see other than color is that the snail in the pic is more "pointy" than mine, but that could be related to the region. I see that the snail pictured came from Portugal and I know this one is not at all likely to have come from there.

That's the closest anyone has come!

Thanks a bunch Investigator1!
 

jammre

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Thanks to "snooping around" that awesome Link from Investigator1 I was able to positively ID this snail. An absolutely perfect match!

It is without a doubt a Buccinidae Babylon

Native to Indonesia which follows the probability of LFS stock.

ID: 1227
http://www.firama.com/seashells1/1227/index.asp

I strongly recomend this site for Id on snails. Without this link, I would never have gotten it!

Thanks again! This is a great forum!
 

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