Chiton

[CATALYST]

I noticed I have a chiton living on my clam. Should I be worried?

 

[Surfnut]

no, they are algae easters

 

[dmyers557]

I would not worry

 

[Stacef]

I would not worry at all, they are amazing algae eaters, and have been on my candies, brain coral, tree coral etc with no damage .

 

[MotoReef]

I noticed I have a chiton living on my clam. Should I be worried?

They look gross, but I have several in my tank that hitch hiked on rocks and they have been the best maids ever keeping my tank cleaner.

They beat turbo snails with the merit of not being able to knock over rocks...no shell! LOL!

 

[michael_cb_125]

Actually Chitons do have shells. Many people get chitons and Stomatella Snails confused.

Here is an example of a large cold water chiton:

Here is a stomatella Snail:

~Michael

 

[michael_cb_125]

When we visit Bermuda, the giant chitons are all over the rocks. Some are over 5" long. They remind me of trilobytes.

~Michael

 

[l3fty999]

They look gross, but I have several in my tank that hitch hiked on rocks and they have been the best maids ever keeping my tank cleaner.

They beat turbo snails with the merit of not being able to knock over rocks...no shell! LOL!

I've got a few myself and I've found them to be very interesting.... I actually find their appearance to be kinda weird more than gross. They are interesting animals and you should google it and you'll find tons of information about them.

Take care
Aaron

 

[MotoReef]

Actually Chitons do have shells. Many people get chitons and Stomatella Snails confused.

~Michael

Well yes, what I meant was the shells are not big enough to make your live rocks come crashing down as it moves about in the crevices...

Anyway, thanks for the correction and happy reefing!!