Hitch hiker ID
 

Posting this here... I can't seem to find anything like it among the normal hitch hikers.

My camera doesn't do macros well apparently - Did the best I could. should give you the basic idea anyway.

Its embedded in the rock roughly 3/8" diameter, has a split shell, concave on the visible side. Several green feeder tentacles. Mouth is black and white striped (reminiscent of a clam). It keeps 'puking' out a long spiderweb, then eating it.

http://members.shaw.ca/skeeter1/hitch1.jpg
http://members.shaw.ca/skeeter1/hitch2.jpg

Thinking it could be a Vermetid Gastropod but most of those are shaped like a tube worm - this is more clam/barnacle like...

Idears?

Andy

It certainly looks like a vermetid snail. Could it possibly either be coiled and hence appear less tubular and more disc-like? Or perhaps its tube is in fact in the rock?

By the way, those are not tentacles as such but rather a gooey web the snail creates, like a spider's web in a sense I suppose.

I had two of the tubular type and was disappointed when one died during a mini-crash. Someone in Calgary has the other, I have no idea who though.

http://www.reefs.org/library/aquariu...97/0897_8.html

See that's exactly what makes me think it's not a vermetid snail...

That whole 'yellow' area moves opening a gap for the tentacles / mouth to be revealed at the top (definitely not mucus - they are tentacles much like an anemone's) in the second shot you can see the actual web it produces (that white line coming out).

Its definitely not coiled, when it opens up to eat the spider web, the whole top opens, exposing about 6 tentacles, and the black/white striped mouth. More like what one would expect from a clam than a tube worm.

FWIW I've also got some of the vermetid worms on some other LR in the tank - they are as advertised, redish tube worm like base, puts out a similar spiderweb - but nowhere near as big (covers 1-2 sq inches, the one in question can almost cover the whole footprint of the 2.5 - 6x12).

Andy

There are different types of vermetid snails. I have 3or 4 of the bigger ones. One in fact has had to grow way bigger then it wanted to because some zo's started climbing it's shell.
http://www.canreef.com/photopost/dat...160230-med.jpg
If you look at the red and blue zo's in the front of the tank you can see they have grown upwards. Thar poor vermetid snail is about 6in long now

The yellow thing is the operculum, ie. door, all snails have them. The tentacles you are referring to must be its antennae.

Maybe email Ron Shimek and see what he says. He has a forum on RC as well.

Ok, had to do better than those godawful pics...

http://members.shaw.ca/skeeter1/hitch3.jpg

Even see the mouth ;) I might just figure out macro photography yet (lets not discuss HOW I managed it... Cuz I sure didn't figure out those camera settings)

Andy