Snails-What are they doing

Hi folks,

Last week I picked up 2 very large(3" or so in diameter, just a bit
smaller than a baseball I'd say) turbo snails. One of the snails seems
to want to eat algae and such off my glass, the other seems more
interested in playing football with the other snail. He crawls on the
other snail and tackles him and then stays attached to his back. Seems
like the weight is too much for the other snail so they just lay there
together for a bit. I've done what I could to break up the interaction
and they do go their separate ways for a bit, but it seems this is what
they wish to do. Just curious what they are attempting(some kind of
mating ritual)...fighting?...sumo snail wrestling?...I dunno, should I
discourage this tomfoolery.

Side note: Looking for a good hitchhiker id site...I have many little
things(too small to photograph with my POS camera) prolly 1/4" long that
swim with a spiral motion. They only come out at night. Also only
coming out at night are some long(2-3") very thin tentacle(maybe a worm
too?) white things...they come from everywhere live rock crevices,
substrate...when you shine the light on them they creep back to their
origin. Not sure if I'm seeing the whole creature or just a tentacle.

TIA
Pat

Could be mating, or just cleaning off the shell of the
other snail. Here in the store I've found it humorous how
the regular turbo snails will often get on the back of the
giant turbo snails, so the giant turbo snails will crawl
up just above the water where the regular turbo snails
will eventually let go and drop off, then the giant turbo
snails will go back into the water.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Pat wrote on 4/17/2006 1:45 PM:
Hi folks,

Last week I picked up 2 very large(3" or so in diameter, just a bit
smaller than a baseball I'd say) turbo snails. One of the snails seems
to want to eat algae and such off my glass, the other seems more
interested in playing football with the other snail. He crawls on the
other snail and tackles him and then stays attached to his back. Seems
like the weight is too much for the other snail so they just lay there
together for a bit. I've done what I could to break up the interaction
and they do go their separate ways for a bit, but it seems this is what
they wish to do. Just curious what they are attempting(some kind of
mating ritual)...fighting?...sumo snail wrestling?...I dunno, should I
discourage this tomfoolery.

Side note: Looking for a good hitchhiker id site...I have many little
things(too small to photograph with my POS camera) prolly 1/4" long that
swim with a spiral motion. They only come out at night. Also only
coming out at night are some long(2-3") very thin tentacle(maybe a worm
too?) white things...they come from everywhere live rock crevices,
substrate...when you shine the light on them they creep back to their
origin. Not sure if I'm seeing the whole creature or just a tentacle.

TIA
Pat

On Mon, 17 Apr 2006 17:45:47 GMT, Pat wrote:

Hi folks,

Last week I picked up 2 very large(3" or so in diameter, just a bit
smaller than a baseball I'd say) turbo snails. One of the snails seems
to want to eat algae and such off my glass, the other seems more
interested in playing football with the other snail. He crawls on the
other snail and tackles him and then stays attached to his back. Seems
like the weight is too much for the other snail so they just lay there
together for a bit. I've done what I could to break up the interaction
and they do go their separate ways for a bit, but it seems this is what
they wish to do. Just curious what they are attempting(some kind of
mating ritual)...fighting?...sumo snail wrestling?...I dunno, should I
discourage this tomfoolery.

Side note: Looking for a good hitchhiker id site...I have many little
things(too small to photograph with my POS camera) prolly 1/4" long that
swim with a spiral motion. They only come out at night. Also only
coming out at night are some long(2-3") very thin tentacle(maybe a worm
too?) white things...they come from everywhere live rock crevices,
substrate...when you shine the light on them they creep back to their
origin. Not sure if I'm seeing the whole creature or just a tentacle.


Those tentacle things sound like the long, skinny arms of brittle
stars. They hide under the rocks and you almost never see their
bodies, but they sneak out at night sometimes, and mine will also wave
their appendages around when I put food in the tank.