cuke ......new odd pic

[yaksplat]

I finally got a good picture of him:

Any ideas?

 

[Bang Guy]

Very cool looking but I'm not so sure it's a cuke now. Does it crawl around or is it sessile?

 

[yaksplat]

it moves at the rate of a snail. The spines on it are soft and can retract like coral would. It has a foot like a snail.

 

[Bang Guy]

Bizzare! I don't think it's a Cuke. Perhaps some type of Cowrie or Abalone???

Very interesting creature.

 

[yaksplat]

Oh yeah, and it has what looks like a green tube coming out of its front end. Similar to the picture of the conch I posted earlier. You can see it in this one, but it kind of blends in with the background.

Jim

 

[yaksplat]

this is what happens if i touch this thing with a stick. His skin splits apart and it's very shiny. Then the skin goes back together, but a split line is still a little visible.

 

[Bang Guy]

That confirms it. It's a Cowrie. Most are not reef safe but a few are. I would keep a very close eye on any Leather Corals you have.

 

[steve-s]

Although I could not find any definate info about them, it looks like a cypraea cernica.

Cheers
Steve

 

[yaksplat]

It can't be a cypraea cernica. Those are native to australia. This came from my Florida keys live rock.

Jim

 

[yaksplat]

okay, i think i found it

Atlantic deer cowrie (Cypraea cervus)

http://www.fotosearch.com/CPH345/355000/

http://www.cowries.info/sale/cyp/93a.jpg

are cowry shells really worth a lot? It seems like there's a lot of pages selling these shells for $75+ 8O