Clown Killing Cowry

[jjharrisx4]

So I come in to work today and the first thing I don't see in my 15g nano is my percula or magenta dottyback...Then upon further observation I realize that I do see them...they're the fuzzy things on the bottom of the tank. So I check my water and all seems well

80deg
0 no2
0 amm
Ph 8.3

I didn't check NO3 or alk (yet) but the corals in the tank all look perfectly fine so I don't think they are at fatal levels. These fish got along well, and were both eating heartily on Friday so this is a mystery. The only changes were the addition of 1 small blue-leg hermit and 1 UNIDENTIFIED cowry. It is about 1/2" tip to tip, white with a tan or gold colored oval at the top of the shell. I know it wasn't the hermit, and I don't think it was the CBS that has been with the fish from day one, so I need to know...

Do cowry's eat/kill fish? I hadn't seen it anywhere in my research, but maybe you're experiences would tell the tale. When I can get a pic I will.

[Geoff]

A quick google search pulled up nothing that would point to the cowry. It seems most of them are just algae eaters. I am sure there are mean ones though, every group of animals in the sea has an outlier. Without a pic. to positive identify for sure.

G~

[Phill]

Actually most cowries are carnivores and eat soft coral. A few of them are herbivores like the ring cowrie.

Your best bet is to stay away from them untill you really want one and understand the difference. They are pretty kewl animals.

Phill

As to the fish. I have never heard of a cowrie attacking fish, maybe just cleaning up after the fact.