Help with ID- Please

[WinkeyWoneye]

I have recently discovered this odd but cool looking creature slithering his way around the base layer of my live rock. I have only seen it once, have yet to see him again since. I've been told it was a flatworm of some kind and to get it out of the tank, but I have yet to see any damage/death to anything in my tank. After looking at the hitch-hikers 2 slide show I think it looks almost identical to the shield limpet thats on there. I have made no new additions in atleast a month, so its been in there atleast that long with no visible damage to anything or any creatures. It has no antenna or any visible mouth openings that I could see, Only thing I noticed was a small raised spot in the center much like the one pictured in the slide show. Any info is much appreciated.

 

[WinkeyWoneye]

 

[dc]

That does look like some type of flatworm to me also. I'd probably remove it. Shield Limpets are black and have a shell under all that mass.

 

[crpeck]

WOW ... he is very COOL!

I don't know, but all the ruffles make me think some kind of nudibranch maybe?

 

[crpeck]

Debi would know better than me.

I just looked it up in an Invert book and it does look more like a flatworm than a nudibranch.

The books says the difference between a nudibranch and a flatworm is that the flatworms lack the external gill structures which are usually visible on the sea slugs (nudibranchs).

But the book I have doesn't show what those gill structures look like.

Given the likely chance that it is a flatworm, many of those can be pretty nasty so the safest bet would be to pull him out.

Do you have a quarantine tank you could put him in to watch and see?

Good Luck!
Cathy

 

[Octoberfest]

Polyclad Flatworm. I had one in my tank and it started eating all my snails one by one. Then it went to work on all those little tiny clams that were attarched to the live rock. It took me a while to get mine but I finally did and removed it from my tank (needless to say it didn't survive the capture). Since it's been out no more snails have died. There are many different colors some are really cool looking. The one I had was the same exact color that you have.
http://www.hawaiisfishes.com/inverts/polyclad_flatworms/index.htm

 

[Octoberfest]

oh and mine was in the tank for about three months before I noticed it. Best time to find it was when the lights were out and I used a flashlight to locate it. It was inside some small crevices in my live rock. Once I found which rock it was in I pulled that rock and after about an hour I got it to come out. PAIN IN THE REAR!!! If yo have a QT tank and can locate which rock it's in just move the rock to your QT tank I guess. Just make sure there are no traces of copper in your QT tank.

 

[WinkeyWoneye]

Thank you all for the input. It is really cool looking too bad it has to go. lol I have noticed some recent snail deaths, so thats the likely cause. I do have a QT. Maybe I'll set it back up and observe it for a while. If it survives the capture that is.

 

[Octoberfest]

Good luck with it, that would be great if you could get it out of there.

 

[Octoberfest]

did u find it yet?

 

[WinkeyWoneye]

LOL, nope have been checking every night with a flashlight, have even woke up at 4 am to recheck, this thing is nowhere to be found without dismantling my tank. As far as I'm concerned snails are cheap enough, as long as thats all he munches on I dont mind buying a big lot of them online to replace what it ate. Than I'll bring the rest back to the LFS for store credit. It isnt worth ripping the tank apart as of now...
However I havent found any new dead snails. I had put a whole bunch of snails in a week or so prior to finding the flatworm, I think the ones that where dead, died naturally or were weak/sickly to begin with. Also my blue leg hermits have killed a couple off to hijack there shells I have noticed, lol. The empty snail shells must not have been good enough for them, wasnt a free lunch that came with it.:smokin:
I also have 2 that I can see of those lil clams that stick to the LR, and they havent been bothered either as of yet. Tons of barnacles, pods, mysis. So I"m gonna just keep a close eye on things for now. As for crabs it wont eat my Sally or my Mithrax they both can be pretty vicious when they want to be, and arent very small.