Scary looking creature from the black lagoon..... :)

77railer · Nov 24, 2017

Ok ladies and gents, up for your viewing pleasure this evening is a never before seen (by my eyes anyway) creature from the black lagoon. My wife pointed it out last night so I snagged a few pics of it. She suggested I remove it but honestly, it looked like it had small spikes and I didnt feel like loosing a finger to this monster, lol. Long story short...we cant find its exact match online and need your help...friend or foe? Patiently awaiting your decision

P.S. I think it may be some type of stomatella

ithk21620 · Nov 24, 2017

Stomatella Snail

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 24, 2017

It's in the stoma family , but it's not a stoma I think. More a closer relative to an abalone. The apperant multiple feelers are really cool.

LetItReef · Nov 24, 2017

Creepy- looks like a Tremor.

Maritimer · Nov 24, 2017

One of the cooler ones I've seen! Harmless, algae-vore, and with a pattern that reminds me of the textiled cone snail (which is highly venomous - fortunately, this isn't that - they just share a paint job).

~Bruce

KJ · Nov 24, 2017

Stomatella

Dsnakes · Nov 24, 2017

Definitely the coolest one I've seen. I was excited to see a black one in my tank, now I want that!

Bongo Shrimp · Nov 25, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
It's in the stoma family , but it's not a stoma I think. More a closer relative to an abalone. The apperant multiple feelers are really cool.

@saltyfilmfolks This is Stomatella varia. Stomatella and Haliotis (Abalone) are only related in that they are both gastropods, beyond that they are not very similar. All Stomatella have feelers around the edges of their shells.

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 25, 2017

Bongo Shrimp said:
@saltyfilmfolks This is Stomatella varia. Stomatella and Haliotis (Abalone) are only related in that they are both gastropods, beyond that they are not very similar. All Stomatella have feelers around the edges of their shells.

In general not that are that apperant. None of mine do. And the shell partern is not like anabalone nor stoma as far as can see from the pictures.

Thanks for the scientific names. I'll def take a look !

Bongo Shrimp · Nov 25, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
In general not that are that apperant. None of mine do. And the shell partern is not like anabalone nor stoma as far as can see from the pictures.

Thanks for the scientific names. I'll def take a look !

The feelers around the shell are sometimes retracted or just not easily visible, but they are there. As for the shell, different species of Stomatella have different shell colors and patterns, with some more common in aquariums than others. From the pictures provided in the original post, everything is classic Stomatella shape and anatomy with the eyes, two large feelers on the head, the mouth, and the foot looking as they should for that genus. The shell shape, color, and fellers around the shell are also indicative of the genus.

Edit: It seems some species may not have the feelers around the shell but I can't find any primary literature that talks about that specifically.

77railer · Nov 27, 2017

Thanks all. Scared the dickins out of me for sure. In the process of moving rocks/corals around tonight between three tanks I saw another first. Stoma of some kind I believe but the dang thing was 2 inches easy and about 3/4 to an inch thick...I was too busy trying to catch the yellow tang we were moving to snap a pic.

77railer · Nov 27, 2017

Thanks all. Scared the dickins out of me for sure. In the process of moving rocks/corals around tonight between three tanks I saw another first. Stoma of some kind I believe but the dang thing was 2 inches easy and about 3/4 to an inch thick...I was too busy trying to catch the yellow tang we were moving to snap a pic.