Dr. Rick Stuart-Smith, Reef Life Survey, Australien
Info
Turbo militaris Reeve, 1848
A shell snail from the family Turbinidae, called turban snails. They have a solid, spherical to gyroscope-shaped, thick-walled housing. The inside is mother of pearl. They occupy a calcareous operculum to close the shell opening.
Turbo militaris is a fairly large piebald endemic to Australia and Tasmania that feeds purely on a herbivorous diet. A look at the snails' shells immediately shows that the shells look very different and one can definitely get the impression that they could be different animals. This different structure of the shells motivated some scientists to investigate this fact in more detail (Variation in the external morphology of Turbo militaris (Reeve 1848)). The link to the study is provided below.
Some specimens are completely smooth, some show beginning to well-developed spines on the body whorl. Both forms can occur together in the same habitat.
The snail is quite commonly observed in shallow rocky reef areas on the coast in shallow water areas.
There is currently no aquarium keeping experience with Turbo militaris.
Synonym: Turbo (Dinassovica) militaris (Reeve, 1848)
The term "reef safe" is often used in marine aquaristics, especially when buying a new species people often ask if the new animal is "reef safe".
What exactly does reef safe mean?
To answer this question, you can ask target-oriented questions and inquire in forums, clubs, dealers and with aquarist friends:
- Are there already experiences and keeping reports that assure that the new animal can live in other suitably equipped aquariums without ever having caused problems?
- Is there any experience of invertebrates (crustaceans, hermits, mussels, snails) or corals being attacked by other inhabitants such as fish of the same or a different species?
- Is any information known or expected about a possible change in dietary habits, e.g., from a plant-based diet to a meat-based diet?
- Do the desired animals leave the reef structure "alone", do they constantly change it (boring starfish, digger gobies, parrotfish, triggerfish) and thus disturb or displace other co-inhabitants?
- do new animals tend to get diseases repeatedly and very quickly and can they be treated?
- Do known peaceful animals change their character in the course of their life and become aggressive?
- Can the death of a new animal possibly even lead to the death of the rest of the stock through poisoning (possible with some species of sea cucumbers)?
- Last but not least the keeper of the animals has to be included in the "reef safety", there are actively poisonous, passively poisonous animals, animals that have dangerous biting or stinging weapons, animals with extremely strong nettle poisons, these have to be (er)known and a plan of action should have been made in advance in case of an attack on the aquarist (e.g. telephone numbers of the poison control center, the treating doctor, the tropical institute etc.).
If all questions are evaluated positively in the sense of the animal(s) and the keeper, then one can assume a "reef safety".
A shell snail from the family Turbinidae, called turban snails. They have a solid, spherical to gyroscope-shaped, thick-walled housing. The inside is mother of pearl. They occupy a calcareous operculum to close the shell opening.
Turbo militaris is a fairly large piebald endemic to Australia and Tasmania that feeds purely on a herbivorous diet. A look at the snails' shells immediately shows that the shells look very different and one can definitely get the impression that they could be different animals. This different structure of the shells motivated some scientists to investigate this fact in more detail (Variation in the external morphology of Turbo militaris (Reeve 1848)). The link to the study is provided below.
Some specimens are completely smooth, some show beginning to well-developed spines on the body whorl. Both forms can occur together in the same habitat.
The snail is quite commonly observed in shallow rocky reef areas on the coast in shallow water areas.
There is currently no aquarium keeping experience with Turbo militaris.
Synonym: Turbo (Dinassovica) militaris (Reeve, 1848)
The term "reef safe" is often used in marine aquaristics, especially when buying a new species people often ask if the new animal is "reef safe".
What exactly does reef safe mean?
To answer this question, you can ask target-oriented questions and inquire in forums, clubs, dealers and with aquarist friends:
- Are there already experiences and keeping reports that assure that the new animal can live in other suitably equipped aquariums without ever having caused problems?
- Is there any experience of invertebrates (crustaceans, hermits, mussels, snails) or corals being attacked by other inhabitants such as fish of the same or a different species?
- Is any information known or expected about a possible change in dietary habits, e.g., from a plant-based diet to a meat-based diet?
- Do the desired animals leave the reef structure "alone", do they constantly change it (boring starfish, digger gobies, parrotfish, triggerfish) and thus disturb or displace other co-inhabitants?
- do new animals tend to get diseases repeatedly and very quickly and can they be treated?
- Do known peaceful animals change their character in the course of their life and become aggressive?
- Can the death of a new animal possibly even lead to the death of the rest of the stock through poisoning (possible with some species of sea cucumbers)?
- Last but not least the keeper of the animals has to be included in the "reef safety", there are actively poisonous, passively poisonous animals, animals that have dangerous biting or stinging weapons, animals with extremely strong nettle poisons, these have to be (er)known and a plan of action should have been made in advance in case of an attack on the aquarist (e.g. telephone numbers of the poison control center, the treating doctor, the tropical institute etc.).
If all questions are evaluated positively in the sense of the animal(s) and the keeper, then one can assume a "reef safety".
