Turbo castenea

Gmelin, 1791

Turbo Grazer, Chestnut Turban, Cateye Snail, Chevron Snail

Range: Atlantic Ocean: North Carolina to Brazil, Caribbean, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Gulf of Mexico, and Venezuela.

Size: 2 inches (5 cm)

Natural Environment: inhabits crevices and holes on shallow intertidal rocky areas where algae and diatom covered rock and ruble accumulate.

General Husbandry: Occasionally available in the home aquarium trade.

Has a brownish-grayish, sometimes reddish brown banded conical shell with bead-dotted spirals and is an extremely good scavenger of unwanted green or brown algae, yet mostly nocturnal feeders, but will scavenge for food during daylight hours when very hungry. Does not harm any creatures they travel over or touch, making them one of the more desired snail species in hobbyist aquariums. Also with their smaller size than others in the genus, helps keep them from bulldozing/knocking over/dislodging small frags or other small invertebrates that are not secure in the aquarium.

They can rid the aquarium quite fast of unwanted algae growths, yet should their diet become inadequate, they become weak and fall off rocks and aquarium side panels. It's then time to provide them some vegetable-based tablet foods/dried seaweed/Nori or remove them before they die, as they can quickly pollute the aquarium water.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropods

Order: Archaeogastropoda

Family: Turbinidae

Genus: Turbo

FYI: Most come from the Caribbean.

Sensitive to salinity changes as they are very shallow intertidal water creatures, so initially acclimate as noted below.

Recommend having at least one per ten gallons.

Generally not long-lived in the aquarium.

Experience Level: Beginner

Diet: Herbivore

Temperament: Peaceful

Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium

Coral Safe: Yes

Fish Safe: Yes

Invertebrate Safe: Yes

Acclimation Time: Sensitive to specific gravity/salinity changes, therefore be sure to adjust the bag's water to that of the aquarium in which it will be placed by slowly adding small amounts of aquarium water to the bag every few minutes. In most cases, this process should take at least 15 minutes.

Aquarium Hardiness: Moderately hardy

Temperature Range: 72 - 79°F (22 - 26°C)

Minimum Tank Size: Perfect for Nano tanks and/or larger aquaria

Water Movement: WM 1 - 2

Specific Gravity: 1.023 - 1.025

pH: 8.0 - 8.4