Invertebrates
Bumblebee Snail.
A tiny black-and-yellow striped snail that burrows through the sand bed eating detritus and leftover food. Mostly reef-safe, though it may hunt other small snails or worms; a useful sand-sifter for a 10-gallon-plus tank.
We keep this species at our Erie store. Come and see it in the tanks, or call (814) 456-9445 and ask what we have in right now.
Sea Cave keeps this species. You will find these in the tanks at 660 East 14th Street in Erie. We never ship live animals.
- Condition
- new
- Fulfillment
- Local pickup — Erie, PA
We never ship fish, coral, or invertebrates — every animal here is one you meet in person. Each one is acclimated and health-checked in-house before it goes out into the display tanks. This is a species we keep, and what is swimming on any given day changes with the deliveries, so please call (814) 456-9445 before you drive in.
Care at a glance
What to know before you take one home.
- Care level
- Beginner
- Temperament
- Semi aggressive
- Community
- Semi community
- Adult size
- 0.75"
- Min tank size
- 10 gallons
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Scientific name
- Engina mendicaria
Good tank mates
The bumblebee snail is a small reef cleaner that is fine with fish and most peaceful tankmates, but it is a carnivore rather than a pure algae grazer. It can hunt and eat other small snails, tiny worms, and similar inverts, so use it with caution in tanks where you want to protect a clean-up crew of other snails, and pair it with fish and corals it cannot harm.
Good to know
Despite looking like a tidy algae snail, it is a predatory scavenger that hunts detritus, leftover meaty food, and bristleworms down in the sandbed and rockwork.
What is in the tanks and each animal's temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for pairing advice.
Good tankmates
Plays well with.
Species we’d keep in the same tank, with why each pairing works. What is in the tanks and each animal’s temperament vary — call (814) 456-9445 for advice on pairing.
New to stocking a tank? Read our guide on which fish live together.
Ultra Black Ice
Peaceful, reef-safe community fish that occupies the water column and has no predatory interest in benthic snails. Completely ignores small invertebrates and thrives in the same reef parameters as Engina mendicaria.
Firefish Goby
Peaceful mid-water hover swimmer with a small mouth incapable of threatening a snail. Reef-safe and documented to coexist with all small invertebrates without nipping or competition.
Green Chromis
Reef-safe schooling fish that feeds on zooplankton in the water column. No overlap in territory or diet with a substrate-dwelling carnivorous snail. Published care guides explicitly note it does not disturb invertebrates or corals.
Fire Shrimp
Lysmata debelius reaches 2–3 inches — significantly larger than a sub-1-inch bumblebee snail — so the snail cannot prey on it. As a cleaner shrimp it is not known to attack snails. Both are Indo-Pacific reef species sharing the same salinity and temperature parameters. AquariumSource lists them as compatible.
- N
Nassarius Snail
Aquarist community consensus (Ultimate Reef, ReefJar, multiple cleanup-crew guides) is that bumblebee snails leave nassarius alone in practice. Nassarius spend most of their time buried in the sand bed and emerge rapidly only when food arrives, making them difficult targets. No specific documented predation events on nassarius by Engina mendicaria have been found, unlike the cerith-specific cases on Reef2Reef.
Visit the store
660 East 14th Street,
Erie, PA.
Mon–Fri 12–6 · Sat 11–4 · Sun closed. Call ahead on livestock — what's on the floor rotates.