ID alien looking thing. (with a pic)

[Blazer88]

I saw this guy crawling around on my rock this morning and snagged it out with some tweasers. It has a hard shell and a distinct mouth...which makes me think it can't be good to have in there. You can see some closed up zoanthids next to it for a size reference, I would say about 1/2" long. Any one have an ID?

 

[useskaforevil]

chiton, harmless, kinda cool color

 

[hyperfocal]

Agreed. Chiton, good-guy.

 

[ShannHell]

I saw a ton of those when I was walking around a rocky beach in Mexico this summer. I thought they were pretty cool, but I didn't know what they were at the time. Now I do! It's an interesting color at least, the ones I saw where all just tan

 

[Blazer88]

Good to know it's a harmless herbivore. Back into the tank it goes Thanks for the ID!

 

[styndall]

I have a few in my tank, and, on the rare occasions when one ends up hanging out on the acrylic, it does a super job of cleaning algae. If there were a source of them around here, I'd get a lot more.

 

[Sheol]

Not only harmless, but an algae grazer, downright helpful. That is one I wish I had!

Matthew