Unidentified snail or slug

[linda lee]

I looked through the recent thread about the snail with no shell which turned out to be something that is not at all like what I've just discovered in my tank. Camera is with Loren so I can't take a picture. Creature looks something like

>this</a> (it's not colorful at all, just a brownish-gray) with these differences:

~ Does not seem to have a segmented body ~ is a symetrical almond-shape

~ Has a small hard *cap* on its head (like a flat helmet)

~ Has 2 feelers instead of the horns

I saw this creature actually step from the backside of my live rock to the heater which is attached to the bottom/back glass of the tank. Then it started gliding back and forth on the heater at a pretty good clip. THEN the dang thing paused and began emitting little puffs of something that looked like smoke signals. Thinking the heater might be cooking it, I let the creature glide from the heater to a small piece of LR rubble and there it floats in my tank in a ziplock.

I wanted to find out if this is a bad guy or a good guy before I turn it lose.

Any ideas? Could he have been stepping out of a shell on the LR that I couldn't see? Do snails leave their shells to find another like hermits do?

I've googled *sea slug* but the pictures I'm seeing are mostly colorful creatures with *horns*

I'll take a picture as soon as I can.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Algae eater... should be harmless...

 

[fishwhisperer]

Chiton?

 

[linda lee]

This is exactly what this is ~ ~ thanks!!!

Big D;61557 wrote: <span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Sounds like a Stomatella Varia... I started with one, now I have a lot more!!! They are good guys, consider yourself lucky. Here's a link... Oh yeah, the smoke signals is it trying to reproduce.</span>

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">http://www.reefcorner.com/SpecimenSheets/stomatella_varia.htm">Link </a><<<---</span>



<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;">David</span>[/QUOTE]