Know Anything About Frilly Limpets?

[NanoKat]

I seem to have them propogating in my tank and am wondering if anyone has any knowledge about them. I had some keyhole limpets before that seemed to have an appetite for my star polyps, so I got rid of them. Now I have at least 5 of the frilly variety, but from what I've read on the web, they don't seem to be harmful to my corals, etc. I don't mind having one or two, so I may like to thin out the population a bit...maybe I'll bring some for the next meeting auction!

Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[NanoKat]

Here's a couple of pics, in case you're not familiar with them...they're actually quite pretty.

 

[illal]

a limpets a snail no??

 

[NanoKat]

Yes, related to the snail. But as is the same with snails, there are some that are reef safe and some that aren't. I'm reading conflicting opinions on them on the web. There's a page of ReefKeeping magazine about snails and such here...


The Grazing Snails, Part II - Abalones, Limpets and Nerites

And this is what they say...

"Fleshy limpets, Lucapina species, are commonly found on Caribbean rock, and there are several species of them. The largest are about the size of shield limpets, but many are smaller. They also have a mantle that extends up over the shell, but in this case, the mantle is brightly colored and ranges from yellow to red. These are keyhole limpets, and as such are probably omnivorous, but from the reports I have received, they don't seem to be eating the decorative livestock. Generally, they seem to be grazing on algae. Like the shield limpets, they are largely nocturnal and are generally out of sight and inactive during the day. When the mantle is retracted, they will be seen to have a small shell on their back and its center will be perforated with a hole. As with the shield limpets, they don't appear to reproduce in aquaria and generally only survive a few months. "

Note the information that they "don't appear to reproduce in aquaria and generally only survive a few months." Maybe I have a new product I can market here!

 

[illal]

i had one of those a while back or atleast i thought i did ... the shell comes to a point with little fringes around it right?? i kinda killed it when i threw it in the sump :hammer: wasnt sure if it was safe or not better safe than sorry ... btw ive never heard anything good about them