For Neale: Are Assassin Snails Toxic?

[J-P]

I thought I would ask because of their feeding patterns. I was wondering if they injected a toxin into their prey snail to kill it during feeding.

When I dropped FW ramshorns into my SW set up the hermit crabs go nuts and pounce on them right away. When I dropped an assassin snail in, I saw a white mucus like discharge come from it and was wondering if it was a defense mechanism that was poisonous.

Thanks in advance

[nmonks]

I doubt they're toxic, but don't have any evidence either way. They're whelks, and whelks are eaten by humans. I'm not aware of anything to suggest they produce mucous as an anti-predation device, but it's not impossible. Slugs certainly do that, and I'm sure there are lots of snails that can do that too.

Some animals are selective about their prey, while others will try anything they come across, only giving up if they find the target item too difficult to handle. Clea helena have quite strong shells for their size, and they may be more difficult to open compared to other snails of similar size. I've got some in a tank with loaches and Synodontis, and these snail-eating fish seem to ignore them.

Cheers, Neale

[chuckfriedrice]

Could it be the salt in the water? Im curious now, LOL .

[J-P]

Definitely not the salt in the water, otherwise the ramshorns would have done something similar. The only way to describe it is as if there were wisps of smoke coming from inside the shell. It was white and streamer like. It lasted for under a minute then it was gone. That is why I thought it was a defense mechanism of some sort...

[J-P]

If I can, I'll try and get a pic of it happening again, but I won't do it in the Display. I'll use a cup instead.