IPisces
Well-known member
I am thinking these are stomatellas but they dont look like snails to me. Any ideas?
ID these critters please
- Thread starter IPisces
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Krish
RF STAFF
The last picture looks like some sort of chiton or what we call "curbs" here in the Bahamas. Here is a picture of one I took a while back that was in a friends tank that he got from the wild here. 
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They are a non threatening isopod. Somewhere, I have some pics of them from my tank, along with a positive id, from leslieh.
IPisces
Well-known member
Okay, cool.. and yeah the tank is glass. I am finding these on the bottom of frags that are sitting in the sand. Do they get any bigger. The ones I am finding are between 1/8 & 1/4 inch long.
IPisces
Well-known member
OMG have you googled isopod? They wont get that big will they?
IPisces
Well-known member
I dont know returnofsid, they dont have legs. I am leaning more toward the chiton.
lvsuckerfish
g funk
http://web.archive.org/web/20020912004036/www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1999/aug/wb/photo1.asp
Sid where do you get Isopod from lol
that thing is a chiton lol
Sid where do you get Isopod from lol
that thing is a chiton lol
Aquanaut
I Love Big Torts!
Hey gang, I have a whopper that is 10yrs old and streatches out to +4"x1/2 wide. Nocturnal. Came on my tongan rock when I set it up long ago.
Here's what I had in my tank and they were harmless isopods. I don't remember if I ever saw any legs or not, because they moved so darned fast. They literally jetted around the container I put them in, to photograph.
Mine look slightly different than yours, and yours do appear to have a more segmented back, so I suppose yours could be Chitons.
Krish
RF STAFF
Definately not a chiton if it moves fast!! Chitons are slower than slugs!!! LOL!
That's actually how mine were ID'd as Isopods, vs. Chitons.
Krish
RF STAFF
Yea, never seen a chiton with legs
Your critter and their critter looks pretty close in color and shape, but probably 2 different things if yours moves fast and has legs. Chitons move really slow and don't have legs
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IPisces
Well-known member
These things I have look like yours sid, but they move reeeaaaaaly sloooooww.
IPisces
Well-known member
Isopod or chiton?
Krish
RF STAFF
If it moves really slow then its's a chiton. Either way, they are beneficial to your tank
IPisces
Well-known member
If it moves really slow then its's a chiton. Either way, they are beneficial to your tank
Actually I was asking Aquanaut if his 4" critter was an isopod or chiton. I have pretty much come to the conclusion what I have are chitons. There are a LOT of them. Can they become a problem. Actually I can move a bunch to my other tanks.
Krish
RF STAFF
I'd say as many as you have a sufficient food supply to support. They are really small so a few won't be too bad.
IPisces
Well-known member
There seems to be an abundance of them here recently. Is it possible that a fairy wrasse would have been eating them. I dont recall seeing so many of them before. My fairy wrasse jumped out of the tank one evening a couple months back and I didnt notice her missing till the next evening when I got home. Maybe the pods will come back too. Its so cool how many critters show up that you didn't know were there.
eddiecorrea
Reef Addict
Those are good pics haha. Chiton I think.
