Somebody has to know what this is! Anyone know anyone who knows?

Kittiescat

Kittiescat

New member
Found in Jupiter FL, tide had gone out from under it, only took these two photos as we were hurrying to get it back into the water. It was still alive. Was 9-10 inches across and was very heavy/dense orange area was very slick and the white area on the other side was rigid like the back of a barnacle. It is really bothering me not to be able to identify this.
I can feel my sanity slowly ebbing away like the tide out from under this creature!
Seriously pass the photo on if you think it might help solve this riddle.
 

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Was the orange side soft, like a snail foot? It almost looks like a very strange limpet or abalone.
Did it have a hinge, like a bivalve?
How do you know it was alive? Did it move?
 
Definitely Alive

Definitely Alive

Yes it was alive. The orange part was soft. I could not identify a hinge, on the other side around the white area it was hard reminded me of the backside do a barnacle. There was movement, slow like a muscle contraction around the orange area, very slow.
 
What bugs me is that it doesn't seem to have a mouth /anus on its underside.

Upon researching " strange echinoderms" I came across the concentricycloidae ( xyloplax or sea daisies) which there is a debate wether they are an urchin or a star and apparently have a mouth/anus on the top side. But no real pictures and they're said to be deep water creatures some known to the Bahamas. So beached in Florida would seem odd.

The orange foot , if you've ever had Haitian food looks like lambi which is giant conch ( of course OTHERWISE doesn't look anything like your hair specimen)
But if mollusc experts say it isn't one ?! You've got a nice little mystery on your hands.

If after a few weeks , no one here is able to give you a good lead , maybe send the pictures to a university with a strong marine biology program.... Or even the smithsonian
 
Thank you for the info, was the day after a storm. Perhaps was caught in a wild current washing it out of its normal area. I will continue to seek the identity, hadn't thought of the smithsonian!
 
Well, what bugs me is that one side looks like a heart urchin and the other side looks like an Umbraculum. Since I've never handled either of them, I'm disadvantaged in trying to identify either. Was it hairy at all? I don't know of any echinoderms that aren't.

Umbraculum umbraculum can get pretty big, but I don't know if they get that big.

http://slugsite.us/bow/nudiwk08.htm

Don
 
Pagojoe, I had thought of that too because it looks just like umbraculum umbraculum. The picture in my book has a beige foot. But the book also has them distributed from South Africa to Hawaii , Australia and New Zealand .
Also the description had them at 8cm, not 8-10" stated in the initial post.
So I figured it wasn't ... Though your link seems to have updated information in comparison to what I had.
Anyone knows what the underside looks like?
I know what the underside of an hexabranchus sanguineus looks like.... Lol! but not an umbraculum.
 
The creature was not hairy at all. The cooler was true to the picture. Beige matching the sand perfectly. An it was very dense. I was mistaken in my first stated measurement, I had thought I was using my larger garbage collecting net but on looking at picture I saw it was one of my other nets, using the net (5") as reference, the creature was about 6"- 7" it completely covered the net when moving below tide line. Do these creatures ever attach to ship bottoms, perhaps getting displaced with the rough weather, might explain why it was stranded if it was in unfamiliar territory. Thank you for the continuing information, this mystery may get solved yet!
 
I doubt the ship hitchhiker likelihood, but you never know. By the way, when you are looking for an ID on this creature, keep in mind that color is the LEAST useful characteristic to use. Good luck!


Don
 
Pretty sure that's a keyhole limpet, but the lack of a hole on top is weird.
Is there any way at all that it could be a new species? Was it in a reasonably little-explored area? It looks like it would camouflage easily, I could see these things hiding well or maybe just not being pointed out by anyone. If you go back through there, it might be a good idea to show the pictures to any beachcomers or fishermen you might come across- they could have seen this thing before.
Might want to post it on here: http://z14.invisionfree.com/Conchologist_Forum/index.php?showforum=32 I'm sure someone has seen one of these things before.
 
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The guys on Let's Talk Seashells might know what it is, but the fellows at the Florida Museum of Natural History WILL know what it is, if you want to go to that much trouble.

Don
 
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