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I need help figuring out what kind of sea animal this is? (Pics in Links)?

The Bottom http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/cky06/New/Picture614.jpg Kinda Blurry But this is the top http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i121/cky06/New/Picture613.jpg I Couldn't get it to come out. My Brother found it at Biscayne Bay. We thought it was a hermit crab but it looks more like a snail.

Public Comments

1. It probably is a snail because a hermit crab would have came out already. You should take it back to where you found it from. ~ZTM
2. probably just a plain snail, if i were you i wouldnt touch it. ive heard of poisonous snails that live in the water called the cone snail and they're deadly and live in tropical waters. just put it back where you found it. here's a website on them if you think it might be a cone snail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_snail
3. Looks like it might be a lightning whelk: http://www.amelianow.com/spring99-whelk.htm but the opening is to the wrong side. This site might help - look at the tulips and nutmeg shells: http://www.sanibelflorida.com/seashells/seashellidentificationguide.htm At any rate, it's definitely not a hermit crab.
4. Definitely not a hermit crab, you can see the snail's foot. So, to start, it's obviously a snail of some sort. More specifically, it looks to be some variety of whelk. Whoever suggested it was a lighning whelk is probably wrong, as the lighning whelk tends to have a more triangularly shaped shell; your snail is more tapered. Also probably not a common whelk, as the shape doesn't really look fat enough to me. Unfortunately, I can't be much more specific than that, because there are numerous whelk species and I am by no means an expert. Also, whoever suggested it might be a venomous cone snail is most definitely incorrect. It's not even close to the right shell shape. Most likely it's entirely harmless (large whelks, by the way, are edible, and considered a delicacy in many parts. The one you have there is way too small to eat, though).
5. It's probably dead. It's a snail. There could also be an octopus using it as a home. PUT IT BACK IN THE WATER!