Mustachioed Reef Snail
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Mustachioed Reef Snail is a small saltwater snail species, named for its mouth tentacles that look like a mustache. The snails have a soft pale body and brightly colored shells in a variety of colors and patterns. Shells are a smooth dome shape and often used by hermit crabs once the snails die.
Ecology and Habitats
The snails exclusively live in tropical coral reefs.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Like many mollusks, the snails will eat any kind of organic matter that makes its way to the substrate such as dead fish, plants, bones, pieces of coral, plankton, and bait. The plankton and corals the snails feast on is widely believed to give them such variation in their shell colors and patterns and why the species has so many color variants, even in the same reef.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
This species is widely known in Shanai for being quite tame and a common sight in tide pools and the nation's reefs. Tourists are known to often pick them up for photos and leave the snails on the beach, much to the frustration of locals and the Red Pineapple Corps, which often must relocate hundreds of snails back to the water.
Multiple pet store chains have also come under fire from Shanai's government for purposefully killing and harvesting the snails to sell the shells for pet hermit crabs due to their natural color which does not fade over time. Restrictions have been put in place for corporations to prevent overhunting, but still present issues as these are often bypassed by companies hiring locals who are still allowed to hunt the snails for their meat.
Origin/Ancestry
Natural
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Average Height
1-2"
Average Length
1-2"
Geographic Distribution
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