what is it?

[revoran]

So last night I was lookin at my tank under the redlight and found some slug looking thing... should I leave it or get it out?
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[tokejr]

Looks like a limpet, but the pictures aren't real clear.

Search for limpets and see if it looks like it.

 

[jennm]

It looks to me like a cowrie. Open with the mantle covering the shell.

I googled for pix... http://bp0.blogger.com/_ip3yo6qX_f8/Rp-UkeS-eLI/AAAAAAAABso/oX2huK6AClQ/s400/IMG_0551.JPG" alt="" />

When it's closed it looks different - shell is smooth and shiny.

There are reef-safe cowries and there are some that aren't. I don't know whether that one you may have is friend or foe.

Jenn

 

[revoran]

ooooo i think your on to something jenn... thats exactly it... except maybe a different species mine looks darker like a black...not brown, but the middle is sometimes closed and sometimes open...i may get him outta there just to be safe i wish i knew though

 

[jennm]

I looked for an image that showed the mantle partly open - more to match the physiology rather than the specie.

There are lots of species of cowrie - some are safe, some aren't. Brian has had an algae cowry in his tank for 2 years and it's harmless... but 20-something years ago I had a huge one that I bought at a LFS that ate coralline (we didn't keep corals back then), so we returned it.

Some stay fairly small, some get really big. Money cowries' shells used to be trade items in some cultures. These days you can find all kinds of things made of the shells - often see them in seaside gift shops - everything from necklaces to flower pot hangers (string the shells together).

Whether yours is good or bad, I don't know - I don't know enough about the individual species. You may have got it as a hitchhiker on rock or coral.

I'd keep an eye on it and see what it does, or if you are concerned that it might be destructive, put it in the sump or find it a home in a FO (where nobody is going to eat it!)

Jenn

 

[cooper]

I have one of those, and it hasn't caused me any problems in the past year.