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Bumble Bee Snail
Snail

Bumble Bee Snail

Engina mendicaria

The Bumble Bee Snail is a small, strikingly black-and-yellow-banded predatory snail, not a peaceful algae grazer like the rest of this list — it hunts small worms (including bristle worms) and vermetid snails at night, which makes it genuinely useful for pest control but also a real risk to other cleanup-crew members and small ornamental worms. Reef and hobby guides consistently rate it "reef safe with caution" rather than fully reef safe, and recommend starting with just 2–3 individuals and observing their impact before adding more.

Temperament
Peaceful
Max size
0.7"
Min tank
10 gal
Reef-safe
Reef safe with caution
Diet
Carnivore
Zone
Rockwork, Caves
Usually kept in numbers — scale the crew to the tank, not to the shopping list.
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Tankmates

How Bumble Bee Snail gets on with the rest of the reef, checked pair by pair by the same engine as the live pre-flight.

Best kept apart

A real clash — aggression, predation or a same-genus fight.

Sixline WrasseSixline Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Leopard WrasseLeopard Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Melanurus WrasseMelanurus Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Yellow Coris WrasseYellow Coris Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Coral HawkfishCoral Hawkfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Red Coris WrasseRed Coris Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Christmas WrasseChristmas Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Antennata LionfishAntennata Lionfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Picasso TriggerfishPicasso Triggerfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Queen AngelfishQueen Angelfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Raccoon ButterflyfishRaccoon Butterflyfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Pearlscale ButterflyfishPearlscale Butterflyfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Ornate Leopard WrasseOrnate Leopard Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Dragon WrasseDragon Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Divided Leopard WrasseDivided Leopard Wrasse hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Valentini PufferValentini Puffer hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Volitans LionfishVolitans Lionfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Zebra Dwarf LionfishZebra Dwarf Lionfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Fuzzy Dwarf LionfishFuzzy Dwarf Lionfish hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.Snowflake MoraySnowflake Moray hunts small cleanup-crew inverts — your Bumble Bee Snail is on the menu.