ID Please

[m109r]

Well recently I went to walmart and bought myself a nice red led flashlight, and my god am I hooked at staring into the tank at night!

so anyways I have been tracking this huge worm like thing in my tank for the last couple days with a red flashlight at night and just now I finally got some decent footage

The picture is deceiving but it is quite large, like at least 2-3x the size of a pencil and I could only see 2-3 inches of it sticking out of the rock

i have not noticed anything strange happening, all fish/corals have been very happy

I poked this thing with a feeding stick and it felt powerful, freaked me out!

Picture:


And video can be downloaded @:
http://members.shaw.ca/tjohn/idplz.wmv

[m109r]

While during some googling I found a great worm website:

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html

How ever the beastie that is in my tank is not on there! Which makes me think its not a worm at all, so I will wait for the opinion of the experts

[banditpowdercoat]

It's a Chiton. They are harmless, eat algae. I was surprised too when I found one in my rock

[m109r]

i do not think it is a chiton, after its "head" I could see an inch or more of body sticking into the rock, unless there is a kind of chilton with a head attached to a long body, but all the pics I've found don't really look like it

[banditpowdercoat]

Yes, It is form of a Chiton. I have one that looks exactly like yours. No harm. He pokes his head outa the rock once in a while, then goes back in. Never coming completely out. Never harming anything



Some info I found before

A Flexible Chiton (Cryptoplax larvaeformis) moves inside the reef to avoid the light on a coral reef near Mabul Island, Sabah in Borneo, Malaysia.
As the eight shell valves have been reduced in this long species (about 5"-6") long, it can appear to be more worm like than other Chiton species. They are normally nocturnal, though when seen during day light hours they generally rapidly retreat into the reef. Due to the reduced shell size which does not protect the whole body, they are also found away from wave action unlike other chiton species.

[m109r]

Thanks!!