Help Identifying Pale Opalescent Blobs

annihil8ted

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Hello! I've noticed these little pale blobs come out at midnight. They definitely move around and today I counted 2. Any ideas what these are? They've been in the tank for at least a month now and so far everyone is still doing okay

IMG_8950.jpg
 

ISpeakForTheSeas

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Hello! I've noticed these little pale blobs come out at midnight. They definitely move around and today I counted 2. Any ideas what these are? They've been in the tank for at least a month now and so far everyone is still doing okay

IMG_8950.jpg
Chitons are harmless, yes - but it looks more likely to me that you've got limpets there (zooming in, I think I can see a peak on their shells that chitons don't have; chitons have 8 plates on their back that look like a rolypoly shell, but limpets look more like a mostly flat tiny volcano, building up from the sides to a peak that for keyhole limpets ends in a little hole); I can tell you they would be Fissurellids (keyhole limpets) of some kind (eliminating some types of fleshy limpets like Tylodina species and Umbraculid species), but I can't say what kind specifically from the pics.

Most keyhole limpets are good, but a very small number are known to hurt SPS corals (and on very rare occasions, possibly some soft corals).
 
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annihil8ted

annihil8ted

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Chitons are harmless, yes - but it looks more likely to me that you've got limpets there (zooming in, I think I can see a peak on their shells that chitons don't have; chitons have 8 plates on their back that look like a rolypoly shell, but limpets look more like a mostly flat tiny volcano, building up from the sides to a peak that for keyhole limpets ends in a little hole); I can tell you they would be Fissurellids (keyhole limpets) of some kind (eliminating some types of fleshy limpets like Tylodina species and Umbraculid species), but I can't say what kind specifically from the pics.

Most keyhole limpets are good, but a very small number are known to hurt SPS corals (and on very rare occasions, possibly some soft corals).
I think my Urchin might have killed one, I see a blob sticking to it which is very reminiscent of the ones in the photos
 

ISpeakForTheSeas

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I think my Urchin might have killed one, I see a blob sticking to it which is very reminiscent of the ones in the photos
It might be carrying one around (urchins tend to carry a lot of "passengers" including snails, corals, algae, etc.); if you don't see a shell, though, then it's probably still alive.
 

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