Odd new hitchhiker

[Jaybird]

I've had my tank running for nearly a year and I just found a new hitchhiker. It looks like a chiton but I can't find anything that looks related. I'm hoping that someone can give some better information on what type of chiton is it. I tried googling "fuzzy chiton" but nothing seems to match

 

[Deep Seven]

I'm guessing Mopalia muscosa

or Acanthopleura spinosa

Those were the closest looking I could find on google. I think the top one more closely resembles yours. Common name is mossy chiton.

 

[Jaybird]

That looks pretty close. Mine is almost as white as the sand. This one mentions that it is found along the west coast: Puget Sound to Baja California. I'm not sure how it's survived in my reef tank so long as the water is a lot warmer than the ocean waters there.

 

[Bige]

Its pretty cool. How big is it? The size of a chiton? I vote Mopalia muscosa. Which I just read is a type of chiton.

 

[Deep Seven]

I don't think it's Mopalia muscosa, colouring isn't quite right, and the habitat range isn't right. It was just the closest I could find visually. All the field guides I have access to right now are temperate and it doesn't seem many universities in the tropics keep info websites on local species.

 

[Jaybird]

It's nearly an inch long. I've noticed some zoas going missing recently and had a blasto dies mysteriously so I've been peeking into the tank more at night. I just noticed this guy last night but he could have been in there for a long time.

There's no doubt that it's a chiton, just what kind. They are all pretty harmless and this one would not be munching on any corals or anything else other than general vegetation.

 

[Deep Seven]

I'd keep an eye on this guy then. When I was researching chitons I came across one that was an omnivore, it would eat sponges and such as well as vegetation. Until you get a proper ID I'd consider it a suspect.

 

[Jaybird]

Deep Seven: I read that too. But what it stated about it being an omnivore is that it eats sponges and hydriods. Now, funny enough, I used to have some pom-pom hydroids stinging the base of one of my acroporas and now they are gone and have never come back. Before I would put some joe's juice on them and they would die, the hermits would pick them apart, but they would grow back. I haven't had any for a while now.

I'm not too worried about it eating sponges, just so long as it doesn't get a taste for any of the other corals in the tank.

I found this guy on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthochitona_zelandica It looks right and considering where most of my live rock is from the area is right too. I can't find anything on what it eats.

 

[Deep Seven]

Hey, I think you got it. That looks very close, the bristles seem to have the same grouping pattern, and the rock being from New Zealand is pretty convincing.

If you live near any libraries, I'd check to see if they have that book by Powell, "New Zealand Mollusca". It might have something on diet.

 

[johnmaloney]

cool find!