Care
Nassarius Snails, also known as Nassa Mud Snails or Sand Snails, are small gastropods found in sandy or muddy substrates in littoral zones. In the wild, these snails are obligate carrion feeders, and have proved to be excellent scavengers in the home aquarium, actively sifting through the substrate in their search for leftover food items, keeping the sand bed turned over. Nassarius Snails prefer an established aquarium with live rock and a fairly deep sand bed. They will spend a lot of time buried in the sand with just their elongated siphon protruding as they move along. The moment any fish food is added to the aquarium, they will promptly emerge and begin their eager search for the source of the food smell. True Nassarius Snails are safe in a reef setting, but obviously do require a good-sized open expanse of mature, live sand in which they can continue their ongoing search for food items. Avoid keeping with hermit crabs and large, aggressive fish. Please beware of vendors selling the similar-looking species Tritia (formerly Ilyanassa) obsoleta under the Nassarius Snail nametag. At first glance, these two species look very alike, but upon closer examination, T. obsoleta has a much smoother shell with no stippling, often with the outer layer worn away towards the tip (which is also blunter than that of Nassarius spp.). T. obsoleta is a temperate species that is not considered reef safe, so it is important to be able to tell them apart. In the wild, the omnivorous T. obsoleta feeds not only on algae, detritus, and carrion, but also on live sand bed fauna such as amphipods, copepods, crustaceans, worms, and other snails. This is particularly unwelcome if the aquarium is home to species such as Mandarins (Synchiropus spp.) which rely heavily on the sandbed fauna as an ongoing food source.
Feeding
These natural scavengers will do well on a diet of various meaty items, such as Mysis shrimp, vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, krill, chopped prawns/squid/mussel/cockle/scallops/clam meat/fish etc. Will not eat detritus.
Breeding
Nassarius Snails regularly lay eggs in the home aquarium, but very few make it to adulthood. In the wild, the larvae undergo a delicate planktonic stage where they drift on the ocean currents for several weeks, before eventually settling on the substrate.
