🐌 Pimpled Basket Snail (Nassarius papillosus)
A Distinctive Rough, "Pimpled" Shell Surface • Bursts From the Sand the Instant It Detects Food • A Larger, More Assertive Nassarius Than Most Cleanup Snails
 
📋 The Pimpled Basket Snail is an active marine scavenger recognised for its textured shell and rapid response to feeding, unlike algae grazers, this species functions as a sandbed detritus specialist, burrowing beneath the substrate and bursting out the instant it detects food.
It comes from the Indo-Pacific, where it works the sandbed day and night, aerating the substrate as it moves while consuming uneaten food and organic waste, supporting overall nutrient control in reef and fish-only-with-live-rock systems. Every Pimpled Basket Snail we ship is feeding well.
This species is noticeably larger and more assertive than typical cleanup-crew Nassarius snails, reaching up to 5cm, and will prey on smaller, more delicate snails if it goes hungry, so it's best paired with similarly sized or larger tankmates rather than fragile nano snails. With a steady food supply and good tankmate choices, it's a hardworking cleanup crew member that complements algae-eating snails well. A 60L tank suits it well.
 
💡 Highlights
🐚 Textured "Pimpled" Shell: A distinctive rough shell surface
🌊 Sandbed Burrower: Naturally aerates substrate as it forages
🧹 Detritus Scavenger: Consumes leftover food and organic waste
⚡ Fast Feeding Response: Quickly bursts from the sand when food is present
⚠️ Larger and More Assertive: May prey on smaller, more delicate snails if underfed