What the heck is this?

[overCee]

I was feeding my tank this evening and saw something I had never seen before. At first I thought it was some kind of fossil in the rock that I had just never seen before. I poked it with a butter knife just to be sure. It was all hard and stony. Nothing about it was soft. Then it moved.

Do flatworms have hard segmented shells? What is this thing?

Sorry about the blurriness of the photo. It is the segmented shell looking thing in the center. The purple outline around it is part of the creature.

If anyone can make a decent ID please also note if it is harmful to my tank or not.

Thank you!

 

[MJAnderson]

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/snails.html

Looks like a chiton to me.

 

[overCee]

You a very likely correct. I just googled chitons.

Now that we know what it (likely) is, are they dangerous?

Thanks again.

 

[jdieck]

Some can kill fish

 

[DonavonsReef]

Some can kill fish

These things move so slow they could never catch a fish plus they are detrious scavengers who suck on rocks, not fish.

 

[Broog]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7767561#post7767561 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdieck
Some can kill fish

Attack of the Chiton's?


Lol

 

[overCee]

Well, after being pointed in the direction of chitons I did some research. Some do kill fish. I do not think the one in my tank does though. Especially since I have had no unexplained fish disappearances since I start up the tank 10 months ago.

I think the most likely species for the one in my tank to be is the Lined Chiton, although I am not 100% sure about that.

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7771249#post7771249 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DonavonsReef
These things move so slow they could never catch a fish plus they are detrious scavengers who suck on rocks, not fish.

Try researching a bit. Some species are fish parasites.
http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Isopoda&contgroup=Peracarida
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.php

 

[Lev F.]

The critters on your links appear to be isopods rather than Chitons, if I'm not mistaken, but some species of chitons do kill fish, by using an enlarged anterior girdle. They use it clamp it down on small fish and invertebrates, which are later eaten and digested.