Anyone know what bores holes in Astrea snails?
 

Then sucks out half the snail leaving the rest to rot and smell terrible upon extraction from the water? I thought skimmate was one of the worst smells but this is truly ungodly :puke:

Each shell has a few holes in it, some below the "trapdoor" of the snail (or where it would be) and then one farther up. I've counted 3 shells so far.

not sure what it is, but i can cross mantis off your list if there's multiple holes in each shell (mantis shrimp have a special sensory system letting them hit the exact same spot every time)

If it's holes being bored then I'm thinking "other gastropod" (eg. oyster drill or similar).

Yeah, dead snails are one of the foulest smells in the hobby. Dead anemone is pretty bad too. I think snails (ie. when there's still a bit of flesh left to rot) are probably the worst smell I've encountered so far. And a hobby like ours with so many fragrant aroma's .. that's saying a lot. :lol:

Murex snails and several types of preditory welk will bore holes in snails and clams.

How about another Mollusk? Do you have any Red Footed/Orangefoot Moon Snails (Norrisia norrisii) from the Eastern Pacific? Not only are they known to eat film algae; they are known to secrete a chemical to soften shells of their prey and use their radula to rasp a hole in its shell. Clams beware!!!

I would agree; the only thing I can think of would be a predatory whelk or snail... If you are bored there is a good article on what they are and how they accomplish their goals here. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/19/185713/309 Yeah, it is only really about one type, but it gives you a good idea of what you may be dealing with and how they kill.

From that article... "Oyster drills feed mainly on bivalve mollusks, but are equally adept at penetrating the defenses of barnacles, periwinkles, and when times get tough, even others of its own species." So I guess you could always buy a nice, expensive maxima as bait. ;)

Christy, I thought I read somewhere about a worm that could do that too...

oh god not this again.

Anyone know if soda water will kill worms or at least get them out of the rock?