Limpet ID

[rongy]

Got those limpets from a reefer as freebies, but not sure if I should put them in the tank. Can anyone help ID them? They’re only about 1/8 inch. Don’t know if they will grow any larger. I do have some SPS in my tank.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

You’d probably need some really clear, close up pics to get a specific ID on limpets, but I can see that they’re a keyhole limpet species. Personally, given how manu totally safe limpet species there are vs how many not safe ones there are, I’d assume they’re safe (but I could be wrong, and if they’re worth some risk or not is up to you):

Normal limpets are totally fine, but there's some speculation about Keyhole Limpets possibly eating SPS corals. If yours is a keyhole limpet (which it looks like it may be, but the photo is too grainy for me to tell you for certain), I don't know that anyone has actually confirmed that they eat SPS (much like how people believe "Asterinas" - actually Aquilonstra - stars might eat their corals: it might be a species specific thing, it might be a you have way too many starfish so they're out of other food options thing, it might be they're eating the slime coat/mucus on the coral rather than the coral itself, or they might just opportunistically eat unhealthy corals).

If it has a little "keyhole" or bullet hole looking hole on the back of it's shell (where the shell comes to a point) then it's a keyhole limpet.

Personally, I'd assume keyhole limpets are probably safe, but I know a lot of people would rather play it completely safe and not take the risk.

As mentioned, it's unlikely.

Currently, I have only found one confirmed case of a keyhole limpet (Diodora galeata) eating SPS flesh, so it is possible, but - by all accounts that I can find - you'd be quite unlucky to get a true, SPS-eating limpet.

"Recent observations were made in the field of D. galeata occurring on and apparently consum-ing the tissue of three pocilloporid corals: Pocillopora damicornis, P. verrucosa (Fig. 1b, c) and Stylophora pistillata."*

*Source:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230604777_Evidence_of_corallivory_by_the_keyhole_limpet_Diodora_galeata

 

[JGT]

Limpets are fine. Will eat algae.

 

[rongy]

You’d probably need some really clear, close up pics to get a specific ID on limpets, but I can see that they’re a keyhole limpet species. Personally, given how manu totally safe limpet species there are vs how many not safe ones there are, I’d assume they’re safe (but I could be wrong, and if they’re worth some risk or not is up to you):

This is best pic I can get. That guy claimed that he got those to clean algae on his tank. I’ll assume they’re safe but would like to confirm

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

That guy claimed that he got those to clean algae on his tank. I’ll assume they’re safe but would like to confirm

Yeah, by all accounts I can find, the overwhelming majority of keyhole limpets are safe, and a lot of people do use them as algae eaters in their tanks. Again, they’re most likely safe, but if you’d like to try and confirm it, you can always toss them into a bucket of tank water with an algae coated rock and see if they start feeding on it.