kaybee
09-26-2008, 02:13 AM
I first noticed this 'thing' in my tank back in 2006. The first time it caught my attention was when I noticed it on my zoanthid rock. Thinking it was a discarded (or even occupied) hermit crab in a snail shell, I tried to brush it off the zoanthid rock. But it didn't budge. It was firmly attached to the rock. I figured maybe the hermit crab abandoned the shell or maybe even died and the surrounding zoanthids began to encrust it, and basically cemented it in place (that was what I initially thought).
For a solid YEAR, this thing appeared to be just an empty shell that had become firmly attached to the rock by enrusting zoanthids. Every now and then I would try to pry it off, but it would not budge, so I just left it. After all I've got empty snails shells here and there in my tank (from hitch-hikers, not from anything I've purchased).
Then one day I noticed its position changed. It began to detach and move. It took some force to pry it off, and when I did, I was suprised. This thing was ALIVE! Some sort of snail or snail-like creature (whelk, etch) which was capable of being TOTALLY IMMOBILE for a year.
I was mistaken that zoanthids had encrusted it, they had merely grew around it, with much of the polyps obscuring it. I remember moving it about 1ft way on another rock. And to my complete surprise the next morning it had mysteriously returned to the EXACT same spot it had been cemented to for a year. Figuring it hadn't done any harm to the zoanthids or anything else in the tank, I let it be. It returned to complete immobile dormancy....another year passes.
Then today I found it on the glass near the top of the tank. I temporarily removed it from the tank and took a photo of it:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
I then returned it to the tank, on the glass, in the upper right corner of the tank.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
For the two years it's been in my tank there's only between 2 days when it was NOT attached to a particular zoanthid rock and at a particular SPOT on that rock. When on the rock it has been completely motionless. Excluding 2 days in 2 years, it doesn't move at all. I'm not sure what it eats or consumes, but it's not an algae eater (which are usually roaming and are attracted to areas where algae is) or a detrivore (I had a carnivorous whelk in my tank which was a fast mover, and attracted to food...this particular snail or snail-like creature never moves, except for one day a year as the current trend goes.
I placed it in the front upper corner of the tank. It will be interesting to see where it will be tommorrow. I will be completely amazed if it again returns to the spot it usually 'cemented' to.
Any idea what this is?
For a solid YEAR, this thing appeared to be just an empty shell that had become firmly attached to the rock by enrusting zoanthids. Every now and then I would try to pry it off, but it would not budge, so I just left it. After all I've got empty snails shells here and there in my tank (from hitch-hikers, not from anything I've purchased).
Then one day I noticed its position changed. It began to detach and move. It took some force to pry it off, and when I did, I was suprised. This thing was ALIVE! Some sort of snail or snail-like creature (whelk, etch) which was capable of being TOTALLY IMMOBILE for a year.
I was mistaken that zoanthids had encrusted it, they had merely grew around it, with much of the polyps obscuring it. I remember moving it about 1ft way on another rock. And to my complete surprise the next morning it had mysteriously returned to the EXACT same spot it had been cemented to for a year. Figuring it hadn't done any harm to the zoanthids or anything else in the tank, I let it be. It returned to complete immobile dormancy....another year passes.
Then today I found it on the glass near the top of the tank. I temporarily removed it from the tank and took a photo of it:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
I then returned it to the tank, on the glass, in the upper right corner of the tank.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
For the two years it's been in my tank there's only between 2 days when it was NOT attached to a particular zoanthid rock and at a particular SPOT on that rock. When on the rock it has been completely motionless. Excluding 2 days in 2 years, it doesn't move at all. I'm not sure what it eats or consumes, but it's not an algae eater (which are usually roaming and are attracted to areas where algae is) or a detrivore (I had a carnivorous whelk in my tank which was a fast mover, and attracted to food...this particular snail or snail-like creature never moves, except for one day a year as the current trend goes.
I placed it in the front upper corner of the tank. It will be interesting to see where it will be tommorrow. I will be completely amazed if it again returns to the spot it usually 'cemented' to.
Any idea what this is?