Stomatella?

[magikarp]

 

Random hitch hiker showed up today. Been 5 months since I've added rocks and it's huge. Got a big surprise. Looks like a Stomatella?

[Red_Blenny]

That looks pretty neat for a Stomatella.

[FlowerMama]

hm. Don't know. I've never seen a stomatella w/ prickly looking body. More often I see the slightly hard looking flat shell on top.

[amphipod]

An impressive specimen, how big is huge?

[magikarp]

An impressive specimen, how big is huge?

Its definitely a mollusk

 

Probably an inch and a half long

 

I have had Stomatellas before, but never even half as big as this one.

[amphipod]

Probably an inch and a half long

 

I have had Stomatellas before, but never even half as big as this one.

that's a big one. there is so much variety and undiscovered species in our oceans, we are bound to find new things in our tanks, weather or not science has labeled your snail I don't know,but I will say that you got an awesome looking stomatella in the tank.

[Benny314]

Not a stomatella, they're tiny, bout 1/2 max.

 

My guess is some sort of sea cucumber or slug/nuddibranch.

[ndrobey]

I've never seen anything quite like it. I doubt it's a stomatella. Are you sure it's not eating those coral?

[magikarp]

No coral in my tank yet

[amphipod]

Not a stomatella, they're tiny, bout 1/2 max.

 

My guess is some sort of sea cucumber of slug/nuddibranch.

impossiblefor any echinoderm as none of them have complex eyes, and nudibranch eyes aren't well enough developed to be this creatures, it has to be something very similar to a stomatella.

[magikarp]

 

 

Gone back into hiding.

 

It's morning now, so I assume he's been coming out at night. I normally start work early and don't see my tank when the lights come on.

 

I'll try watch for it next weekend.

[FlowerMama]

Stomatellas can get to be like an inch big however they usually have a flat bottom, then the hump for their body then that thin hard shell that curves with them along the top.

[Benny314]

there is so much variety and undiscovered species in our oceans, we are bound to find new things in our tanks, weather or not science has labeled your snail I don't know,but I will say that you got an awesome looking stomatella in the tank.

 

impossiblefor any echinoderm as none of them have complex eyes, and nudibranch eyes aren't well enough developed to be this creatures, it has to be something very similar to a stomatella.

 

Contradiction anyone.

Sorry I don't intend to be mean or nasty with that. But generally snails have shells. Clearly this doesn't and has a remarkably similar appearance to some sea hares often sold to eat GHA.

Those may not be eyes, it's hard to tell from the photo it could just be a colour pattern that looks like eyes.

 

Cool critter though. Let us know if it gets bigger and starts trying to take over the world lol.

[Jellyingabout]

 

 

Contradiction anyone.

Sorry I don't intend to be mean or nasty with that. But generally snails have shells. Clearly this doesn't and has a remarkably similar appearance to some sea hares often sold to eat GHA.

Those may not be eyes, it's hard to tell from the photo it could just be a colour pattern that looks like eyes.

 

Cool critter though. Let us know if it gets bigger and starts trying to take over the world lol.

 

I think this clearly does have a shell, from the image. I'm certain its a Stomatella, but as to which species is another question, we'd need a better picture of its shell. There are over 50 species in the genus, dozens of which have distributions in common LR and coral collection zones.

 

The lack of folds/ fringing margin's around the radula indicate this isn't a sea hare.

[amphipod]

I think this clearly does have a shell, from the image. I'm certain its a Stomatella, but as to which species is another question, we'd need a better picture of its shell. There are over 50 species in the genus, dozens of which have distributions in common LR and coral collection zones.

 

The lack of folds/ fringing margin's around the radula indicate this isn't a sea hare.

+1 thank you for backing me up on this, I'll be honest I have seen some amounts of skin proturbences in some individuals but the amount on this specimen is outstanding to say the least. But judging by its entire facial features and the arrangement of its breathing apparatus, also the internal shell hump, likely vegetarian to scavenger nature ( I got this because there is no complaints of lost tankmates, and it has been specifically said there are no corals, yet this animal is growing and thriving on what its food source is. I'd say it would be algae)

[amphipod]

Stomatellas can get to be like an inch big however they usually have a flat bottom, then the hump for their body then that thin hard shell that curves with them along the top.

if you look carefully at the front of the animal, behind the head, you will notice that there is the hump, showing an internal shell, there is some variation to how developed the shell is in this case its very undeveloped and internal

[magikarp]

some cool info, tanks guys. I'm curious to see what else I can learn about it.

 

And I can confirm it does have a half shell as you'd expect on a Stomatella

 

I got a better pic this afternoon. Now I know what I am looking for he's not too hard to find. Just blends into the rocks very well when not moving around

 

 

The shell is about half an inch. Full body around an inch, but I have seen it stretch out and become bigger than that

[amphipod]

The purpose of the little bumps and growths maybe is for camouflage?

[Benny314]

Yep my bad, with a different picture, clearly a shell sorry all.

Lets hope you have more than one as if it is anything like the stomatella's (and other sails for that matter) I have they'll breed like mad and you'll have loads in no time.

[Red_Blenny]

There's a huge subfamily of stomatellia snails:

http://www.gastropods.com/Taxon_pages/Family_TROCHIDAE.shtml#TROCHIDAESTOMATELLINAE

 

Though the website don't show the body shape, like what amphipod said, it could simply be a camouflage thing. I have some stomatellias that has a black shell and a black body (along with the usual grey/off-white shell with the grey/off-white body).

 

Either way, I hope they reproduce cause I'd like to have a few of them

[FlowerMama]

yep, clearly has a shell now. Thanks for the better picture.

[amphipod]

Yep my bad, with a different picture, clearly a shell sorry all.

 

Lets hope you have more than one as if it is anything like the stomatella's (and other sails for that matter) I have they'll breed like mad and you'll have loads in no time.

I forgive you like red blenny said if magikarp can get a spawning population going those stomatellas may trade pretty well. Come to think of it I have an idea that could possibly work to make more if executed properly and if this stomatella is just a variant of another species of stomatella. Get a more common stomatella, or several species of more common ones. Put one in the main tank with this one after a degree of isolation, see if they breed, if they breed and successfully reproduce you isolate the offspring and grow them, see if they can reproduce, if the spikes genes are recessive they would only show up in the offspring of the offspring, if dominant they would show up in the first offspring generation. All this is assuming that your stomatella isn't a brand new species but simply a special variant.

To think about polar and grizzly bears can breed with fertile offspring showing that they obviously are the same species, and not different species as previously thought.

[ndrobey]

But you could also wind up with sterile mules.

[amphipod]

But you could also wind up with sterile mules.

thats why I say see if the offspring can reproduce, sometimes similar looking things can be extremely different, horse has 64 chromosomes and a donkey has 62, that's a huge difference we don't notice by simply looking at one of them lol.

[hey]

That's an awesome snail, so much more attractive than the ones I have had.