Limpet ID

[Blake509]

Kinda hard to see them tucked up in the rocks. Have quite a few of these that come out at night wondering if they are sps safe have heard some will eat flesh. Don't have any sps in tank yet but want to add some in future. They don't seem to be affecting lps or softies at all but have noticed Coraline go missing. Any help is appreciated. Also dealing with vermitids would a bumble bee snail also help with limpet population control?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Kinda hard to see them tucked up in the rocks. Have quite a few of these that come out at night wondering if they are sps safe have heard some will eat flesh. Don't have any sps in tank yet but want to add some in future. They don't seem to be affecting lps or softies at all but have noticed Coraline go missing. Any help is appreciated. Also dealing with vermitids would a bumble bee snail also help with limpet population control?

I've heard the claim of some keyholes eating SPS corals (I haven't heard of anyone claiming they eat other kinds of corals) before, but I don't think I've seen anyone actually be able to verify that claim (though there are enough species of limpet out there that it wouldn't surprise me if some did eat SPS). That said, as mentioned at the end of my quote below, with limpets of any kind, I would assume they are safe until proven otherwise.

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
Normal limpets are totally fine, but there's some speculation about Keyhole Limpets possibly eating SPS corals. If yours is a keyhole limpet (which it looks like it may be, but the photo is too grainy for me to tell you for certain), I don't know that anyone has actually confirmed that they eat SPS (much like how people believe "Asterinas" - actually Aquilonstra - stars might eat their corals: it might be a species specific thing, it might be a you have way too many starfish so they're out of other food options thing, it might be they're eating the slime coat/mucus on the coral rather than the coral itself, or they might just opportunistically eat unhealthy corals).

If it has a little "keyhole" or bullet hole looking hole on the back of it's shell (where the shell comes to a point) then it's a keyhole limpet.

Personally, I'd assume keyhole limpets are probably safe, but I know a lot of people would rather play it completely safe and not take the risk.

I don't know about the bumblee snails and limpets - I'd assume they would eat them if they get the chance, but I'm not sure.

 

[Fish Styx]

IME, limpets are harmless to coral. I have many (both keyhole and fleshy) in my tank. Bumblebees will help with vermetid snails, but, to my knowledge, will not eat other snails. I have many in my tank and have never seen them do so.

 

[Blake509]

Thanks for your help guys. Is there anything out there the does prey on limpets? They are kinda making Coraline growth an up hill battle. It grows in nice starts looking good only to have the center eaten out to nothing.

 

[TnFishwater98]

I don’t think think bumble bee snails will eat a healthy limpet. I’ve manually removed limpets in the past. They will reproduce and you will have lots of white baby limpets. I do not know what would help keep the population of limpets down except for lack of food.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I don’t think think bumble bee snails will eat a healthy limpet. I’ve manually removed limpets in the past. They will reproduce and you will have lots of white baby limpets. I do not know what would help keep the population of limpets down except for lack of food.

Yeah, manual removal is probably the best method, as pretty much anything that would eat limpets would likely eat other snails (i.e. CUC) too.