Pyramidellid snail (pest) (Boonea impressa) care guide

Group
Snails
Other names
Impressed odostome, Turritella impressa, Pyram snail, Pyramidellid
Family
Pyramidellidae
Origin
Western Atlantic from Maryland to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and Brazil
Water
saltwater
Maximum size
0.7 cm
Reef safe
no

Care

Boonea impressa, the impressed odostome, is a tiny parasitic sea snail of the family Pyramidellidae, reaching only about 7 mm. It is a pest, not livestock, and should not be sold. In the wild it lives on eastern oysters, piercing the soft tissue with a long proboscis and sucking body fluids. In reef aquariums, pyramidellid snails of this kind are a well-known pest of giant clams and of grazing snails such as Astraea and Turbo. Identification: very small (usually 2–7 mm), white to cream, with a tall, pointed, spiralled shell and spiral lines, and a distinct tooth inside the opening. They hide by day and come out at night to cluster on the clam's shell edges, particularly near the byssal opening and between the scutes. Clusters of small jelly egg masses on clam shells or snail shells are a sign of an infestation. Do not confuse them with Cerith snails or useful Stomatella, which are larger and graze rock. How it arrives: on clams, on snails, and on live rock and frags from infected systems. Numbers can explode, because each snail lays many eggs and the young stay on the host. Harm: heavy infestations weaken and kill clams, which gape, retract their mantle and lose condition, and they can also stress snails. Removal and prevention: quarantine and inspect every new clam and snail. Brush the shell of an affected clam with a soft toothbrush in tank water outside the display, and pick snails off at night with tweezers. Natural predators include small wrasses such as six-line (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia) and melanurus wrasses, which pick them off clams. Repeated checks over several weeks are needed to catch hatchlings. Copper: copper-based medicines are toxic to shrimp, snails and most invertebrates, and some plant fertilisers carry copper too. Never treat a display tank holding this animal with copper; treat fish in a separate hospital tank, and drip-acclimatise new arrivals slowly. Sources: Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booneaimpressa). Checked October 2026.

Diet

Parasite: sucks body fluids from bivalves (its natural host is the eastern oyster) and, in aquariums, from giant clams and grazing snails. It does not need feeding and should not be kept.

Breeding

Lays small jelly egg masses on or near its host; the young stay close to the host, so populations build quickly in a closed tank. Remove egg masses whenever they are seen.

Compatibility and tank mates

Harmful to clams, oysters and snails. Not reef safe. Six-line and melanurus wrasses and some small predatory animals eat them.

Last updated 8 October 2026. Community-edited care guide on Aquatic-Auctions.

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