ID these critters please

[user 26995]

I am thinking these are stomatellas but they dont look like snails to me. Any ideas?

 

[Krish]

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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[arman]

They look like chitons to me as well. Those guys are great algae eaters, but be carful if you have an acrylic tank, as i've heard that they sometime will eat holes in the tank!

 

[returnofsid]

They are a non threatening isopod. Somewhere, I have some pics of them from my tank, along with a positive id, from leslieh.

 

[user 26995]

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.

 

[user 26995]

OMG have you googled isopod? They wont get that big will they?

 

[user 26995]

I dont know returnofsid, they dont have legs. I am leaning more toward the chiton.

 

[lvsuckerfish]

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

 

[Aquanaut]

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.

 

[returnofsid]

I dont know returnofsid, they dont have legs. I am leaning more toward the chiton.

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

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]

Definately not a chiton if it moves fast!! Chitons are slower than slugs!!! LOL!

 

[returnofsid]

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]

That's actually how mine were ID'd as Isopods, vs. Chitons.

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

 

[user 26995]

That's actually how mine were ID'd as Isopods, vs. Chitons.

These things I have look like yours sid, but they move reeeaaaaaly sloooooww.

 

[user 26995]

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.

Isopod or chiton?

 

[Krish]

Isopod or chiton?

If it moves really slow then its's a chiton. Either way, they are beneficial to your tank

 

[user 26995]

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]

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.

 

[user 26995]

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]

Those are good pics haha. Chiton I think.