Unknown tank creature

[SteveM]

Okay, I was checking out my tank tonight and saw something on my overflow. I got out my flashlight and this si what I found. Anyone know what it is and should it be in my tank??? It appears as thought it has been there for a while since it looks like its covered in coralline algae but who knows..... I do know that it is a very slow mover. I tried put it in a container but I could not get it off of the overflow. It was very hard except on the edges of it.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2007 by SteveM

[davelin315]

Chiton, harmless.

[jason the filter freak]

Harmless, cool, and a fun addition to the clean up crew.

[ReeferMan]

Looks like a teenage mutant nija turtle

[dshnarw]

Chiton, harmless.

 

unless you have acrylic...it'll scrape it up.

 

 

Nice find! Quite envious of you (haven't found them for sale).

[gastone]

unless you have acrylic...it'll scrape it up.

Nice find! Quite envious of you (haven't found them for sale).

 

 

Daniel, I've got babies if you want some (1/8" +/-). These things reproduce like crazy in my tank. I find them everywhere at night.

 

My variety stay small though and don't get any bigger than 1/4" or so.

 

Garrett.

[Boret]

Looks like a teenage mutant nija turtle

 

Ha ha ha ha

[SteveM]

Thanks everyone. Glad to know its harmless. It's a pretty good size and so far I have only seen this one.

[dshnarw]

Daniel, I've got babies if you want some (1/8" +/-). These things reproduce like crazy in my tank. I find them everywhere at night.

 

My variety stay small though and don't get any bigger than 1/4" or so.

 

Garrett.

 

 

 

You are the greatest man!!

 

I would love a few!

[Gatortailale]

http://library.thinkquest.org/J001418/chiton.html

 

 

 

Neat find. Google got hit to above page and info.

[treesprite]

if anyone is planning to pass some around, could I have a few too please?

 

Aren't those a creature that was around in prehistoric days?

[lanman]

 

Aren't those a creature that was around in prehistoric days?

Yes... although you might be thinking of trilobites; obviously related.

 

bob

[trble81]

we used to dissect them in the Evolutionary Biology lab that I taught in undergrad....memories....

[dshnarw]

if anyone is planning to pass some around, could I have a few too please?

 

Aren't those a creature that was around in prehistoric days?

 

 

Yep - Late Cambrian (~500 million years ago) for first appearance.

 

One of the coolest creatures out there, essentially unchanged for 500Ma - nearly as long as the crinoid (feather star) and the nautilus. But these are easy to keep in a fish tank.

[treesprite]

I WAS thinking trilobites and was afraid I would spell it wrong so I didn't try... you spelled it the way I was thinking it was spelled, so was I right or are you spelling it wrong?

[lanman]

I WAS thinking trilobites and was afraid I would spell it wrong so I didn't try... you spelled it the way I was thinking it was spelled, so was I right or are you spelling it wrong?

I spell well...

 

I picked up a bunch of trilobite fossils in Bolivia - 10,000 feet above sea level. I'd guess they were freshwater animals.

 

bob

[dshnarw]

I spell well...

 

I picked up a bunch of trilobite fossils in Bolivia - 10,000 feet above sea level. I'd guess they were freshwater animals.

 

bob

 

 

Trilobites? They were all saltwater animals that we have record of. They went extinct in the Permian extinction 250 million years ago that gave rise to the dinosaurs (but were "effectively" extinct ~350 million years ago).

[Dentoid]

Trilobites? They were all saltwater animals that we have record of. They went extinct in the Permian extinction 250 million years ago that gave rise to the dinosaurs (but were "effectively" extinct ~350 million years ago).

 

Here is one that I found in my tank.

 

[quazi]

Here is one I found in my tank: