snail id

1guydude

Well-Known Member
Can someone id this bad boy! He lives on a colony of zoos and thats not a good sign...when i went to take him out today he stuck to the mat and i ended up rippin up a piece of the zoo mat with him. Hes got a shallow shell almost like a limpet! I put him and the piece he came off with lower down the rock to see if he would go back up to the zoos. I looked on are hitchhiker site and nothing like it.
????
btw hes in the middlish area of each pic.


 

meowzer

Moderator
Picture stinks...LOL....But I am thinking limpet...they are actually good....next time don't pull it off LOLOL
 

1guydude

Well-Known Member
tank god its just a limpet...i thought it was a pred snail ive never seen or heard about!
 

bang guy

Moderator
Keyhole Limpers are actually not true Limpets. Limpets are herbivores, Keyholes are omnivores. It's not going to attack any other Snails but I have seen them take a layer of skin off Leather Corals. They will also eat varieties of algae that other snails won't touch. I've seen them create a perfectly clear path through a patch of hair algae.
 

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Keyhole limpets usually attack SPS corals primarily. There are several different types of limpets, some are beneficial, some aren't.
"The most common variety encountered in a reef aquarium is the Keyhole Limpet. They are a common import with live rock, and are typically colored in a mottled brown, black and tan pattern, and do not have a mantle that cover their shell. The Keyhole Limpets are typically half an inch long, or smaller, and feed on unwanted filamentous algae, cyanobacteria, diatoms and even hydroids. Unfortunately, in the SPS aquarium, they will also feed on the tissue of SPS corals.
As with many of the snail species, it is best to physically remove the limpet if you are unsure of its species and diet. Some limpet species are herbivores and are beneficial to even a reef aquarium. But even the herbivores can become harmful if there is not enough food for them in the aquarium. Limpets will typically not reproduce to any significant number in the aquarium, and physical removal is usually a sufficient control for the SPS coral aquarist." - another different saltwater fish site that I can not source, sorry.
 
Top