Weird things that grow on snails...

[jon.smolders]

So... what the heck is this? Some kind of hydroid or filter feeding worm? Algae? They're about 2 inches long and have been growing on this snail for a month or so now. They don't seem to bother the snail, he keeps cruising along... its easy to spot him now

[Delphinus]

Awwww cool! Mermaid's cup algae!

Enjoy it while it lasts .. it will likely eventually disappear.

[Wingin It]

HOLY FREAKIN' COOL!!!

[pscott99]

For some reason I immediately thought of the old jetsons cartoon. Mine has green bubble algae on it. Yours is way cooler.

[ferret]

A nice type of macro aglae ( Acetabularia sp. ) and difficult to handle. I'm jealous that you can keep it alive for more than a month without being eaten by other snails or fishes since mine was being destroyed by the strong current and part of the algae was eaten by the snails a year before.

[jon.smolders]

Sweet, thanks for the ID guys. Yeah, it's been doing fine over the last month, though I think part of the reason is that my only fish at the moment is a sixline wrasse (he's not too interested in eating it). Funny thing is, I was looking at one of my other snails and it looks like one might be starting to grow on him as well! lol

I might try transplanting one or two of the stalks... scrape the holdfast off with a razor and let it sit in some rubble, or super glue it to a rock...