Reddish-orange disc

Formidableone14 · Jan 30, 2020

Found this guy about 2 weeks ago and have been watching it while trying to figure out what it is. Its displays colors ranging from red, brown, orange and yellow. It seems to be alive as I have watched it "crawling" and moving, it also has a small spot in its center and the edges are a bit jagged. It is extremely thin and flat. Thanks!

Tahoe61 · Jan 30, 2020

How far does it move? Is it a flatworm?

Formidableone14 · Jan 30, 2020

Tahoe61 said:
How far does it move? Is it a flatworm?

Doesnt move like a flatworm, rather it uses its far outer edges to almost grab and pull itself. Best interpretation I could provide is like a stingray when they are moving along the sand but at much much smaller scale and not as rapid. Very slow. I would say it can move or has moved about an inch every hour or so. Hard to say my flow is no joke!

Tahoe61 · Jan 30, 2020

Hmm, did you blow some water it's direction, could it be a Limpet?

BloopFish · Jan 30, 2020

if it wasn't moving or alive I'd say its an operculum of a snail... but since its moving it might be a flatworm. Not all flatworms move the same, there are unique ones that can even swim in the water column. I'm not aware of any limpets that have that color or are shell-less, they would also have eyestalks.

Formidableone14 · Jan 30, 2020

Ive nudged it with a few items, used the pipette to push it around and blow water onto it, no reaction whatsoever. Just lays there and moves lol. Ive also seen it latched on to smaller rocks in the sand almost as if its feeding on something. I say this bc of the angle it sits at, a specific spot is on the rock while the rest of it is in any direction the water takes it (from what i can tell). It had disappeared for a few days and just found it again today. I would say its a soft bodied (almost like jelly) entity and is as thick as a strand of hair, MAYBE.

Formidableone14 · Jan 30, 2020

BloopFish said:
if it wasn't moving or alive I'd say its an operculum of a snail... but since its moving it might be a flatworm. Not all flatworms move the same, there are unique ones that can even swim in the water column. I'm not aware of any limpets that have that color or are shell-less, they would also have eyestalks.

Would the operculum become translucent over time? This is slightly see through, hard to tell in pics.

BloopFish · Jan 30, 2020

Formidableone14 said:
Would the operculum become translucent over time? This is slightly see through, hard to tell in pics.

An operculum of a snail is kind of like a fish scale in texture. It's definitely not an operculum if its moving - an operculum is just like a hard piece of a snail kind of like a shell.

Finbar · Jan 30, 2020

Since it doesn't react to external stimulation could the movement be caused by water turbulence? Have we tried turning the powerheads off to confirm it's moving under its own power?

Malifry97 · Jan 30, 2020

KJ · Jan 30, 2020

Lucapina sp. Fleshy limpet

Formidableone14 · Jan 30, 2020

Finbar said:
Since it doesn't react to external stimulation could the movement be caused by water turbulence? Have we tried turning the powerheads off to confirm it's moving under its own power?

KJ said:
Lucapina sp. Fleshy limpet

Wow I scanned right past this thing a hundred times lol. This seems to look exactly like what I have thanks! I assume that this one is no different than other limpets and should be safe?

KJ · Jan 30, 2020

Formidableone14 said:
should be safe?

Algae grazer perhaps soft corals to. Watch them.

Dfrashid · Nov 8, 2022

Formidableone14 said:
Would the operculum become translucent over time? This is slightly see through, hard to tell in pics.

Looks just like the operculum I have from my sails being eaten I'm almost 100% sure it is the same thing

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Nov 9, 2022

Dfrashid said:
Looks just like the operculum I have from my sails being eaten I'm almost 100% sure it is the same thing

It was a fleshy limpet.

Alexopora · Nov 9, 2022

Erin1971Texas said:
It was a fleshy limpet.

Agreed. OP mentioned that it moves and also if you were to observe the pictures closely, you can make out the conical shape of the shell typical to limpets.

tbrown · Nov 9, 2022

+1 fleshy limpet was my first thought.

Dfrashid · Nov 9, 2022

BloopFish said:
An operculum of a snail is kind of like a fish scale in texture. It's definitely not an operculum if its moving - an operculum is just like a hard piece of a snail kind of like a shell.

This is a operculum and yes the fish scales I seen them on the microscope