ID on large nudibranch thing? pics

[Rich D]

I found this while changing some rockwork. I saw one and thought it was part of a rock but when I saw a second, I poked it to find that it moves and fast! I isolated it and the rock and took some shots. Does anybody know what it is? Is it harmful? I have not noticed any coral damage. It is about 1.5 centimeters long. I have never seen a nudi that large in a fish tank...

 

[Anero]

looks like a stomatella(spelling?) snail i could be wrong tho.

 

[Rich D]

that does look like what it is. I read up on their description and this seems to be one. It has a hard shell on its head that you can see in the first and third picture. From what I read they are beneficial so should i throw it back in the tank?

 

[Anero]

i would wait for a couple others to post to make sure, but yes stomatella are very good and the populate fast

 

[evsalty]

It is indeed stomatella so put it back in.

 

[skip2142]

Be prepared for that 1 to turn into like 1000 in no time flat.

 

[Rich D]

yea, i just talked to my dad about it and he says we had a ton of them in our old tank. I threw it back in. theyre pretty cool little creatures, when I furst touched it, it moved soooo quickly across the side of a rock!