Quiz Time - ID These.

[Amphibious]

Found these on a rock. I suspect them of doing some damage. Before I reveal what I suspect them of doing, I want your input, ideas and general remarks.



They are a quarter inch long, fairly hard, curl into a ball when disturbed and are mobile. I'm not 100% sure they are the culprits but, very suspicious. Thoughts?

Dick

[Phurst]

They look like chitons to me.

[Joyride]

My 4 year old says that they're rolly-pollys and notes that they are generally non-destructive in marine tanks.

[spanko]

+1 on the Chiton.

[bbl_nk]

Looks like they could be Chitons, check this page out: ChitonFAQs

[rayme07]

I agree they look like chitons.

[CarmieJo]

Ha! I thought they looked like rolly-poly bugs too. I've never had chitons, can they roll up?

[spanko]

Yup. The roly polys of the reef..............

[lReef lKeeper]

i agree with chitons ... whats the damage Dick ??

[boyesreef]

i got some of these buggers crawling in my sand, cleaning the glass. if you look at the bottom of the tank with a light, you can see dozens of them. i sure hope they arnt bad.

[Amphibious]

Chitons, Roly Poly bugs, both good guesses but I think neither are correct. I don't know what they are but they nearly destroyed the Orange Monti pictured below.



They aren't the nasty Monti eating nudies but they nearly destroyed this Monti. When I discovered the bleaching of this Monti I put off taking a serious look at it until the next day. Day one, I didn't take a picture, about half of what you see as white was affected. By the next day, it had doubled to what you see. I pulled it from the DT to inspect it expecting to find the naughty nudies. But what I found were those things in the first picture. I found one and picked it off and while rolling it around in my fingers trying to determine if it was a chiton, I killed it (squish, eew). Chitons, I believe, have a hard shell. These were soft like leather. I figured there had to be more and subsequently found the other two.

After removal, I jetted the whole piece of coral and rock mount using a lab pipette with bulb end trying to blast off any hidden buggers and returned it to the DT. There has been no further deterioration of the coral.

Conclusion, I don't know what they are (or were) but they are NOT wanted. I have several other Monti caps and will watch them very closely.

Case remains open.

Dick

[PhotoJohn]

what a shame, that was a beautiful coral

[rayme07]

What a bummer I hate when stuff like that happens. But that's the hobbies don't know what your going to find. kind of like scavenger hunt. lol

Chitons, I believe, have a hard shell. These were soft like leather.

Thats funny the chitons on the coast of California are kind of soft shelled and leathery feeling. but they could be a different type to. No one knows.

[CarmieJo]

Wow, those are some nasty bugs!

[Amphibious]

Yes, they WERE. I say were because they have found themselves taking a ride down the circular whirlpool. On the good side, the bleaching has not progressed and it looks like the coral will recover.

[rroselavy]

Dick-

It looks like a chiton because of the eight plates (I think I count eight) plates on the back. I've read that some chitons can be predatory on micro-crustaceans, but most feed on algae. I have read nothing about chitons eating coral. The girdle on some species can extend further up the back, so much as to cover the plates - as in the giant "Gumboot" Chiton.

Source: Chitons (Placophora)

The damaged Monti appears discolored near the base. Is that algae growth that happened after the beaching?

I wonder if Jon Maloney has any thoughts on this...

[Amphibious]

Hi Scott,

I thought they were chitons from the start but had never heard of any coral eating chitons, either. That's why I was shocked to find only them on the piece. Since they have been removed, the death of tissue has stopped. Yes, the algae appeared after the bleaching. The "good" portion of the coral seems OK. I'm giving it a few more days and I'll post another picture.

Dick

[boyesreef]

i have never seen any of the ones in my tank, they all stay down duried in the sand. they look like snails, and if you dig them up, they have a flat shell instead of a spiral one.

[Phurst]

I believe what you're describing are stomatella snails. They're harmless grazers.

[boyesreef]

I believe what you're describing are stomatella snails. They're harmless grazers.

coolio, thanks

[Amphibious]

After the deterioration of the Monti cap that started this thread, I mentioned I had several other Monti caps and I'd keep an eye on them. Well, a week or so ago I found a second M cap bleaching.



I didn't wait to inspect the above coral like I did the first one. The underside of this coral has a large bleached area, too.



These snails are the only thing I found and removed them. As you can see in the picture of the coral the bleaching has stopped. Algae growth has begun on the bleached area. It was about a week from finding the snails and taking the above pictures.

The original Monti featured in the first part of this thread is recovering. I will probably frag off the two or three healthy areas and discard the rest.

I guess there are more Monti predators than just the Nudies.

Dick

[rayme07]

wow that sucks at least you got them before they did to much damage.

[thincat]

my guess is CHITONS. but then again those are suppose to be good guys. so...........................

[rroselavy]

Dick- Has there been any significant change in the temp in your tank?

I know it is a long shot, but I just read a post where some one said a 5 degree temp swing (from 78F to 83) caused bleaching in his Monti Cap while all the other SPS in the tank were fine.

[Amphibious]

No. Stable temps (82), and all water parameters, too. Since I removed the "chitons" and those two snails, no further bleaching has occurred.

Thanks for the heads up.