What in the world is this??

[dnreef]

I've seen this character hiding out in the rocks before. Now that he's out for a stroll I took a picture. Originally I had thought it was some type of flatworm. Now it kind of reminds me of a leach. It is about 2.5 inches in the picture. It can shrink and stretch depending on what it needs. It also does not appear to have bothered my fish or corals. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[straightjiggy10]

I'll say some form of nudibranch

 

[Master Shake]

if you can take it out if you are still unsure about it. you do not want any future problems with it. ex- coral eating nudibranch.

 

[sjsoto]

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html
hope it helps

 

[dnreef]

I've been looking around the net and I'm beginning to think it's some sort of chiton. Any other thoughts? I'd like to know what this is.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

I've been looking around the net and I'm beginning to think it's some sort of chiton. Any other thoughts? I'd like to know what this is.

i think chiton has a hard shell and doesn't move around much. does it have a hard top shell? cause the underside look like worm structure to me. peanut worm??

 

[dnreef]

I was reading that the chiton has the ability to roll up into a ball so I'm assuming that the "hard" shell has some give. This critter also looks similar, but not exactly the same, as a chiton I saw on a picture gallery. It's hard to see in the picture but the three dots at the front of the critter (right side on the top 3 pics) gives way to something that looks like spines as you go toward the back. Also, there appears to 8 segments to this thing and I read somewhere that there are 8 segments to a chiton. The pictures I looked up of the peanut worm don't look anything like this thing. I first noticed this buried deep in the crevices of the rocks in my tank. It's only out and about because I am in the process of breaking down my current tank and moving everything into a bigger tank. Up to now it does not appear to have bothered a single thing in my tank.

 

[Domboski]

The pics are tough to work with David. Is it breathing in and out of what appears to be a hole highlighted below? My first reaction is a seahare of some sort but it is very difficult to get a good look at it in the pics.

 

[Domboski]

Check that, you are right David. See the excerpt from Bob Fenner below:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/chitonf2.htm

Hitchhiker ID 10/16/07
Hello to whoever is on, thanks for all your WWM work. Just got a few boxes of new Tonga live rock this morning. I found this slug-like hitchhiker at the bottom of one of the boxes. It's about 6" long and 1" wide, and made it alive through 36 hours in transit. I've looked at the invert pictures on the site, and can't quite find it. It looks something
like a Chiton,
<Is>
but there is no bony/plate-like top.
<Covered...>
It is not colorful the way most sea slugs seem to be. Kind of like a snail without a shell, but I've never heard of such. He is alive, and trying to crawl out of the plastic bin I have him in. Any ideas what he might be? I'm pretty sure he's too big and ugly to put in my tank, but if he's safe I might put him in quarantine or someplace separate. Pictures are attached, one of him trying to crawl out, one of his underside, one close up of his back when he curled up.
Thanks in advance for any ideas. He is like nothing I've seen before.
Scott
<Sorry for the lateness of this reply. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/chitonfaqs.htm
Bob Fenner> Re: Hitchhiker ID 10/16/07
Thanks for the reply. You apologized for the lateness of the reply, but FYI, someone actually did answer me within about 24 hours. We found a clear picture somewhere else and did verify it's a chiton as well. So no worries.
Thank you!
<Real good. BobF>

 

[woodman]

I'll take a put it in my fish only tank!

 

[NYreefNoob]

almost looks like a peanut worm

 

[tomtoothdoc]

Check that, you are right David. See the excerpt from Bob Fenner below:

kudo dom, chiton it is then. hey dom, i thought you'd be busy moving and stuff. how do you find any thing on wwm? ususally i'd type in key word but then get sidetrack reading other stuff that i'd forget about what i was searching for.

 

[Domboski]

kudo dom, chiton it is then. hey dom, i thought you'd be busy moving and stuff. how do you find any thing on wwm? ususally i'd type in key word but then get sidetrack reading other stuff that i'd forget about what i was searching for.

:google:

 

[tomtoothdoc]

:google:

lol.....overlooking the obvious!!!!

 

[dnreef]

YES!!! That's it! Thanks Dom.

That ugly little thing is exactly what I have. I have two of them. The one in my picture is about 2.5 maybe 3" when fully extended. The other is about half that. It's amazing what can come hidden in rocks. The rock that produced this one also produced a black sea cucumber, 3 emerald crab, a coral banded shrimp and a serpent star. Looks like I'm going to have to get tighter on my quarantine.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

YES!!! That's it! Thanks Dom.

That ugly little thing is exactly what I have. I have two of them. The one in my picture is about 2.5 maybe 3" when fully extended. The other is about half that. It's amazing what can come hidden in rocks. The rock that produced this one also produced a black sea cucumber, 3 emerald crab, a coral banded shrimp and a serpent star. Looks like I'm going to have to get tighter on my quarantine.

wow all that from one rock? how big is the rock? where do you get your rock?

 

[dnreef]

wow all that from one rock? how big is the rock? where do you get your rock?

It was about a 7 or 8 lb piece. Picked it up at Aqua Hut. The tanks with the live rock also tend to hold there janitorial critters. I figure some of them make a home in the rock after a while.