Privateer Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Saw this tonight on an old hermit shell...lives in a shell like growth. Any ideas?...type of barnacle maybe? Quote Link to comment
Aurortpa Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Is it the bottom shell then? Hard to tell. Is it kind of flattish or very cone like...telescopic eyes? I can’t verify from vid but if it is an actual cone snail, please look them up, they can weaponize a probiscus and deliver venom...again I can’t tell by vid...could also be a harmless conch or a limpet, nassarius, or welk. Any other pics? Quote Link to comment
Privateer Posted September 21, 2018 Author Share Posted September 21, 2018 The large shell was a hermit crab shell that's abandoned...the creature lives in a small shell...it's the greenish shell...it opens as if on a hinge. Here are pics of it open and closed. It is worm like with appendages as seen in second pic....it also appears to have a light colored body inside the shell. The shell it lives in is permanently attached to the old crab shell and is not mobile Quote Link to comment
Aurortpa Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 3 minutes ago, Privateer said: The shell it lives in is permanently attached to the old crab shell and is not mobile Sounds like a type of limpet, they can definitely grip. Quote Link to comment
ReefCap Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Looking at the 2 tenticals on either side of the mouth I’d go for limpit as well Quote Link to comment
Privateer Posted September 21, 2018 Author Share Posted September 21, 2018 After seeing your responses I believe you guys are correct. Thanks alot! My 4th tank and never seen one before, one of the things that makes reefkeeping so much fun! 2 Quote Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 That is an odd one. I don’t know of any true limpets that are sedentary. The closest thing I can think of would be a hoof snail, but I believe they attach themselves to rocks and wait on the surf to bring them food. ill do some digging tonight, when I have time. Quote Link to comment
Aurortpa Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 They are mobile but can choose a spot in which the wish to settle. Quote Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Well. Here it is. It’s most likely a hoof snail of the Hipponix species. Which, oddly enough, IS a type of limpet. Unfortunately, there isn’t much info on them. I did find one site, but it was all in German, and required a subscription, or membership, of some sort. I ain’t that dedicated to finding answers for you. 🙂 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Privateer Posted September 21, 2018 Author Share Posted September 21, 2018 That's it...thanks a bunch After your I'd I was able to find this online about them, for anyone who is curious. Hipponix species as well as other animals in the family Hipponicidae are horse-hoof-shaped limpets with a special trait: they remain sessile for the greatest part of their lives - on rocks as well as in the case of some species on the shells of other snails. They can alter the chosen substrate to form a kind of second shell, occasionally leading to misidentification as a bivalve by hobbyists. Those species who prefer rock are primarily filter feeders, those who are epibionts on mobile animals use their long proboscis to feed on algae, detritus and carrion in passing. They also quite frequently feed on the feces of their animal host without harming it directly. In the home aquarium they can occasionally be found on large imported snails such as Tectus sp., Trochus sp. or Turbo sp. as well as on the shells used by hermit crabs. 2 Quote Link to comment
Aurortpa Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 Nice work everyone! 🔎 Quote Link to comment
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