Nassarius Snail

Care at a glance

Overview

A peaceful detritivore that patrols under the sand eating leftover meaty food, detritus, and decaying matter, and its constant burrowing keeps the sand bed turned over and aerated. It ignores corals and algae almost entirely, so it is a scavenger rather than an algae grazer. It works best in tanks with an open sand bed and gets along fine in groups.

In the wild

Nassarius snails are sand-dwelling scavengers that live buried in soft substrate with only their long tube-like siphon poking out to smell for food. They need an established tank with a sand bed to burrow in, ideally a few centimetres deep of fine aragonite. They are sensitive to high nitrate and copper-based medications like other marine snails.

Good to know

Nassarius are mud and dog whelks (family Nassariidae) that detect food by scent through an extended siphon. When food hits the water they erupt from the sand almost instantly, which earns them the nickname zombie snails. The smaller common types stay around 1.5 to 2 cm while the larger Super or Tongan Nassarius reaches roughly 2.5 cm.

Did you know

They stay buried until they smell food, then burst out of the sand all at once to swarm a dropped morsel, which is why hobbyists call them zombie snails.

Related species

• 

  Astraea Turbo Snail

  Astraea tecta

  1 in (2.5 cm)11 gal (40 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Marine Nerite Snail

  Nerita sp.

  1 in (2.5 cm)11 gal (40 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Ring Cowrie

  Monetaria annulus

  1.2 in (3 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)
• Trochus Snail

  Trochus sp.

  1.2 in (3 cm)11 gal (40 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Bumble Bee Snail

  Engina mendicaria

  0.8 in (2 cm)11 gal (40 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Stomatella Snail

  Stomatella varia

  0.8 in (2 cm)11 gal (40 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)