Can someone help identify this critter?

[Austin_Bayarea21]

My snails have been mysteriously disappearing so I cleaned out my sump today and found this in the rocks can someone help identify this? I suspect this has been leaving empty shells around my sump

 

[i cant think]

My snails have been mysteriously disappearing so I cleaned out my sump today and found this in the rocks can someone help identify this? I suspect this has been leaving empty shells around my sump

To me it’s some sort of either nudibranch or flatworm

 

[ccole]

It looks like a Polyclad flatworm. It’s most likely eating your snails. Check for more at night when they go hunting. I caught two that hitchhiked in on my live rocks.

 

[i cant think]

It looks like a Polyclad flatworm. It’s most likely eating your snails. Check for more at night when they go hunting. I caught two that hitchhiked in on my live rocks.

This is what I would say after doing some more research

 

[Austin_Bayarea21]

Oh man thank you @ccole and @i cant think That looks to be it, Im guessing they must be in the main display too, anyone have any tips to catch them other than pulling out rockwork hahaha.

 

[Uzidaisies]

That’s certainly a polyclad flatworm. Some images you can find suggest it’s a leopard flatworm, but if you search for leopard flatworm, most results show a much more colorful flatworm. So possibly Pseudoceros pardalis, and most likely responsible for killing the snails.

 

[ccole]

Oh man thank you @ccole and @i cant think That looks to be it, Im guessing they must be in the main display too, anyone have any tips to catch them other than pulling out rockwork hahaha.

You hopefully don’t have too many. They’re not prolific breeders. I caught mine at night with a flashlight. They would come out in the open to hunt and I would scoop them out with a net. Be careful not to damage them when you pull them out, they can regenerate if a piece breaks off.

Are you seeing dead snails in your display? If so, you most likely have one there as well. They usually leave only empty shells.

 

[Uzidaisies]

You hopefully don’t have too many. They’re not prolific breeders. I caught mine at night with a flashlight. They would come out in the open to hunt and I would scoop them out with a net. Be careful not to damage them when you pull them out, they can regenerate if a piece breaks off.

Are you seeing dead snails in your display? If so, you most likely have one there as well. They usually leave only empty shells.

I don’t know if it really impacts how fast they multiply in an aquarium, but some (if not all) polyclad flatworms can regenerate an entire new worm from a single cell. It seems like there’s at least potential there for them to multiply at in incredible rate.

 

[Austin_Bayarea21]

You hopefully don’t have too many. They’re not prolific breeders. I caught mine at night with a flashlight. They would come out in the open to hunt and I would scoop them out with a net. Be careful not to damage them when you pull them out, they can regenerate if a piece breaks off.

Are you seeing dead snails in your display? If so, you most likely have one there as well. They usually leave only empty shells.

yeah seeing alot of empty shells i didnt really notice at first, but i just bought a bunch of snails about a month ago and there are alot of empty shells now

 

[Austin_Bayarea21]

thanks all