Big black .... snail?

[MrSquid]

I went to the doctor with my wife the other day and they have a reef tank in their waiting room. It had at least 15-20 big black blobs in the tank - each with a tiny white spot on it's back.

If the blob was 2", the white speck was less than 1/4-1/2". It wasn't elongated - it was more of a flat, rounded shape. The white speck gave no significant indication (rise/bump) that it's a shell. Maybe some sort of stomatella? But with a TINY shell in relation to the size of the foot?

Sorry - no pics - but does anyone here have a guess as to what they might be? They were REALLY funky.

 

[Patrick12]

Sure do. They are called limpets. They are reef safe...despite reports to the contrary. I have had several over the years and they are good algae grazers and cool to look at. That white thing you see is actually a shell they use to protect their core. They are cool critters.

 

[MrSquid]

Thanks! Just searched them on Live Aquaria and that's exactly what they were.

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1752&N=0