About Bruised Nassa
Nassarius snail — buries in the sand and emerges at feeding time like a periscope. Excellent at cleaning up leftover meaty food before it fouls. Reef-safe and one of the most useful cleanup crew members per dollar.
Phrontis vibex, common name the bruised nassa, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Nassariidae, the Nassa mud snails or dog whelks.
Notes from the editors
What it looks like. Small Nassarius snail with a pointed conical shell. Adult size ~1 inch.
In your tank. Excellent cleanup crew member. Burrows under the sand and emerges at feeding time like a periscope when it detects food in the water column. Will clean up leftover meaty food before it fouls the tank.
Care notes. Reef-safe and peaceful. Stock 1 per 5 gallons of sand bed.
Sourcing and feeding. Wild-collected from Atlantic waters; sold in bulk by reef cleanup-crew suppliers ($1–3 each). Scavenger — leftover meaty food, dying or dead inverts.
Care info is a starting point, not a guarantee. Individual specimens, water chemistry, and tankmate dynamics vary. Verify against multiple sources and adjust to what you observe. See our terms & disclaimers.
Related invertebrates
Sources & attribution
- Taxonomy and accepted name from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS AphiaID 877061).
- Description content adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo: (c) Jacob Weston, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY (via iNaturalist or Wikimedia Commons).