Quote:
Originally Posted by DKoKoMan
I hope that's what it is and not a pest as I looked tonight and there was approximately 5-10 more.  |
Not likely at all. After the veliger stage, it takes most animals several weeks before they will metamorphose, and this usually takes more than one ecological, biological, or nutritional trigger. I wouldn't be concerned. You could squish or siphon them out if you are concerned though, or just brush them off, and they'll get filtered out or eaten.
You do hear of the life cycle completing, but usually in commercial systems where there may be huge refugium-type vats where it's possible for a larva to go through the entire life cycle without being filtered out or eaten. Not all snails, clams, etc will have such a long or complicated larval stage, it really varies from one species to another and the ones with shorter life cycles are the ones we see reproducing in our reef tanks, such as Collonista snails.
If you care to nerd out, here's a link to a clam life cycle for example.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/8/inverts