ID for this little critter?

[socalfish]

its about 3-4 inches long, extremely light sensitive. took this pick in the pitch dark with the flash. hope its not too big of a pic.
you can see the astrea snail for size. its the slug looking thing in the middle of the pic, under the sponge.

 

[Ebmorri]

Chiton? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiton

 

[Harlikwin2000]

I believe it to be a worm of a sort, I've seen a number of these hitch hiking on rocks, but I am under the impression they are fairly harmless (no guarantee they're completely reef safe). They look kinda like a banana peel when they are dried out! Sorry i don't have much more to offer than that!

 

[socalfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12121736#post12121736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ebmorri
Chiton? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiton

yea, but it's got no shell at all. thanks for the info.

 

[socalfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12121923#post12121923 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Harlikwin2000
I believe it to be a worm of a sort, I've seen a number of these hitch hiking on rocks, but I am under the impression they are fairly harmless (no guarantee they're completely reef safe). They look kinda like a banana peel when they are dried out! Sorry i don't have much more to offer than that!

I agree it's def a worm of some sort. I think its cool. I'm curious what it eats so i can keep it alive.I don't have any thing in the tank except a few clean up crew. almost done with the cycle.

 

[Ebmorri]

The "shell" is really just a small set of plates. It's hard for me to tell but in the pics the red spots on the back maybe the shell, that it what they would look like.

Maybe pm LeslieH and she could tell you.

 

[greenbean36191]

Yep, Ebmorri is right. It's a chiton, although a weird one. It's Cryptoplax, which roughly translates to "hidden shell." Despite the weird morphology, behaviorally it's a pretty typical chiton, meaning it's a harmless grazer.

 

[socalfish]

cool thanks guys :thumbsup: