Recent content by LeslieH

Not really. I consider crabs to be far more interesting than coral or fish although I understand one or maybe two people have the opposite opinion.... ;)

Yes, they're limpets. Those are the antennae sticking out. It's not at all uncommon for limpets to stack up on other snails & each other. In fact, that's the normal way of life for some like the American Crepidula fornicata. They form stacks. The largest, older ones on the bottom & females...

Actaeodes tormentosus. Probably one of the crabs that show up most frequently on IP live rock. Very common in nature. Newly settled crabs like to create burrows directly under corals while the older ones will move into crevices in the rock. Out in the wild they are primarily algae eaters...

Reefmack's right. Personally I would prefer to sacrifice the corals & keep the nudi happy but you might not feel the same. :- ))

Re: This isn't a hitchhiker but I know there must be someone here that can give me an Might I point out that Chuck's Addiction comes out of the Philippines? We don't get those shells in California.

Re: This isn't a hitchhiker but I know there must be someone here that can give me an These are the biggest of all. Picture a football cut in half - that's how big they get!

Re: This isn't a hitchhiker but I know there must be someone here that can give me an I've seen them before & knew the name. Cool, aren't they?

It's a cowrie, and looks like a money cowrie (Cypraea moneta) with a colored ring that's brighter than usual. PagoJoe will know for sure.

Re: This isn't a hitchhiker but I know there must be someone here that can give me an It looks like a giant gumboot chiton, Cryptochiton stelleri, with some reflection right along the back. Images at cryptochiton stelleri - Google Search

Depends on what's in your tank. That's the red-spotted hermit Dardanus megistos. They can get up to 8 inches & will take out other crustaceans, feather dusters, molluscs, fish, and corals. Basically they're eating machines.

Frequent dipping is part of the cure but don't wait for the eggs to hatch. The eggs are often at the base between polyps which means they're hard to find unless you pick up the colony & do a very careful, close-up visual search. It's much better to be pro-active than reactive when it comes to...

One on the left is an aeolid nudi and was likely to be preying on the zoa it was wrapped around. You'll need to check that colony very closely for others & for egg coils. The appendages that came off are the cerata. They often contain stinging cells captured from the zoanthid prey & used for...

Saccoglossan sea slug. Vubben's right, it's in the genus Elysia. These species are all algae eaters.

It's a xanthid crab, Actaea tomentosa, a very common hitchhiker. They live in rock crevices or under corals. Primary food is micro-algae, followed by small crustaceans (like pods) and worms, detritus, dead things, etc. If they aren't starved they usually don't bother anything valuable.

What kind of urchin was it? Was it on top of the shell or over the opening where hermie is? Hermie's got a good crop of algae on his shell and a hungry urchy might be very interested in getting on top & chowing down; the legs would have been by-catch.