Limpet Hitchhiker

[Tremont]

Is this critter reef safe?

So far, only been spotted eating algae...it is growing pretty quickly though (about 1.5 inches now). It's also very fast...and pretty smart at evading. 1st time I tried to catch it, it just ratcheted down onto the LR and there was no way I could pry it off. The next time, it detached, flipped into a little ball and was picked up by some current and gone.

-Tre

 

[Tennyson]

Thats a stomatella. Completely harmless and excellent hitchikers.

All they will eat is algae and feed off the rocks. No need to remove it.

 

[BuddhaKiss]

Agreed, not a limpet, its a stomatella...and its reef safe

 

[laffinlin]

I think I have 2 of these in my tank that I have noticed. Funny thing is that today I noticed them blowing what looked like smoke signals pretty much at the same time. Does anyone know what they might be doing? One is on the glass the other came out of a hole in the live rock. Appreciate all help. Linda

 

[dalilgriffith]

I have two in my tank, one with a yellow body. They are neat. You can obviously tell by looking at them long enough that they are algae eaters. +1 Thumb

laffinlin, they might be attempting to start mating rituals?

 

[laffinlin]

I thought that might be it. Do you know if they multiply quickly? Should I worry about too many in my tank? Thanks for the help. Linda

 

[4218kris]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13668151#post13668151 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by laffinlin
I think I have 2 of these in my tank that I have noticed. Funny thing is that today I noticed them blowing what looked like smoke signals pretty much at the same time. Does anyone know what they might be doing? One is on the glass the other came out of a hole in the live rock. Appreciate all help. Linda

they are spawning they breed pretty well but not like a fresh water tank in that they will cover everything they are great to have

 

[laffinlin]

Great. Good to know. Thanks for your help. Linda

 

[jhildebrand]

Never heard of them multiplying to problem proportions. If they did you'd be lucky as a lot of reefers would trade stuff for them.

 

[Snail-po]

I just happend upon one of these. I was putting in a blue acro frag and the thing just jumped off. It was weird , at first i thought it was a abalone(hope i spelled that right) but it just moved to fast and didnt have the holes on its shell like a abalone.