Stomatella Love

Wow. I've read about this but didn't think I would be lucky enough to see it in action anytime soon. Stomatella Snails are some of the more common hitchhikers that are introduced to tanks via live rock and coral purchases, and they are one of the few snails that seem to readily and successfully reproduce in an aquarium. Many other snail species will attempt to spawn but have extended planktonic larval stages which cannot survive in such a closed environment.

Stomatellas breed via broadcast- in an organized fashion brought on by some sort of chemical signal, all of the snails in the tank will simultaneously clime up to a high point on the rock and release their eggs and sperm into the water column, and the rest is up to nature. Given that only a few months ago I had two of these snails and now there are twenty or thirty of them in my tank, this must have been going on for some time.

Anyway a few minutes ago I was lucky enough to be sitting in front of the tank and looking at the curious puffs of smoke rising from my rock. I soon realized what was going on... not a minute later the female stomatellas began releasing hundreds of eggs through their breathing siphons. I was too fascinated to pick up the camera, but next time I will definitely try to capture this in images.

Many of these eggs become food for other animals in the tank but judging by the present population there are plenty that make it to adulthood.

I also found my first starfish tonight. Not exactly sure which species it is but it appears to be of the genus Asterina, and is about 5-8mm wide. There are some scattered accounts of these animals eating the base of Acropora hard corals but the general consensus is that they're welcome additions unless they reach plague proportions.