I.D. Please.....

acez28

acez28

Member
****Pics are big****
im getting photoshop tommorrow and i will make some smaller pics.
White? egg looking thing in the middle of the pic. I have about 6 or 7 of them in various places in my tank. Any idea what they are. I have watched them with the lights on or off and nothing comes out of them.
Here you can see more of them egg looking things. But that orange thingamabob. It just appeared after about 9 months....i hadnt purchased anything at all...it just appeared.
And yes i know i have plenty of aptasias. I am battling them and they winning for now....
 
spline9

spline9

Member
The first pic, possibly a sponge. They pop up on occasion.
The orange thingamabob, i believe, is a skirted keyhole limpet according to what I remember of BangGuy's previous IDs. Probably a hitchhiker you never noticed until now.
Excellent pics, btw. :)
 
acez28

acez28

Member


Dear Anne,
Yes this is a 'limpet' - in fact a Keyhole Limpet, so named because its shell has a hole in the apex of the shell through which the siphon to the mantle cavity can communicate with the outside world. They are quite closely related to that other 'sluggy' snail, Scutus which has generated quite a few queries.
The white smoky substance you observed is a secretion from the Hypobranchial Gland, which is found by the gill, in the mantle cavity of many snails. The purpose of the secretions is still not really understood. One snippet of interesting information concerning the hypobranchial gland is that the reddish dye called Tyrian Purple which was used to die the clothes of important people in ancient times, was obtained from the hypobranchial gland of muricid snails (Murex, Thais spp). It was first made in Tyre in the eastern Mediterranean 2-3000 years ago in what was probably one of the earliest chemical industries. The purple ink produced by Sea Hares, which is also reddish, is quite different and not permanent.
In your photo you can see the snail-like head with the eye embedded in the skin at the base of the head tentacle. The shell is completely covered by a flap of skin, but the ridge running around the body indicates the edge of the shell.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2001 (June 25). Comment on Limpet? from the Bahamas by Anne DuPont.
[Message in] Sea Slug Forum.
PS. Google rules too. Great help....thanx everyone.
 
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