weird turbo, strange protuberances, and possible curlique

[krullulon]

this is my new tank hero -- it's the turbo that came with the IPSF tuneup kit:

question: although you can't see it in this pic, his shell is covered in a membrane and the membrane occasionally extends transluscent branched spines with pink tips and turns him into mega freaky sea creature -- i'll try to get a picture, but so far i've only seen it in the middle of the night with a flashlight. he's a reasonably hefty size at about 1.5" from end-to-end.

really interesting little critter, and is definitely doing his share on the algae issue -- he basically completely scrubbed a 6x6 section of overgrown rock singly-handedly in 24 hours!

curlicue question:

this little bugger popped-up in my tank today:

he's pretty wee at about .5" from end-to-end, but the tips are definitely curling and some white banding is visible. the questions: first, does it look like a potential curlique? and if so, will it spread like regular aiptasia, or is he cool to hang out? i think curliques are kinda' cool and he's in a very isolated spot in the low-rent district of the tank... can he stay, or will he spawn like crazy and/or go on a rampage?

thanks!

 

[ZooKeeper1]

That snail migh be a cowrie, they have a mantle that can cover the entire shell. The aptasia does look like a curlicue, but I would kill it, it is still an aptasia, and is aggressive
check out this site for an ID http://www.oceanlight.com/cypraea.html

 

[krullulon]

thanks for the I.D.!

i checked around and yup, it definitely looks exactly like a tiger cowrie and matches the description.

problem is, consensus seems to be that cowrie's aren't reef safe and will eat soft corals and anemones... but some sources say they're OK with anything but condylactis.

should i remove the cowrie?

 

[ZooKeeper1]

your welcome. I would just keep an eye on it, like alot of things, you could have two of the same and only one would be bad.

 

[elpescado]

The cowry actually looks more like the snakehead cowry (its shape resembles the flared out neck of a corbra), Cypraea caputserpentis.
It is an algae eating cowry commonly found around the Hawaiian Islands, but also further south. Or the Humpback cowry Cypraea mauritiana also from the pacific ocean which inhabits rocky wave beaten shores.
Considering it came in on your live rock ( most divers not wanting to collect from wave beaten rocky shores, can't figure out why??? :lol: ) I would tend to lean tward the snakehead cowry.
The cowry in your picture has dark lateral bands without markings, and a spotted pattern in the middle of the shell. The tiger cowry Cyprea tigris, is a large cowry with no lateral banding, and the spots cover the entire shell.
As for the anemone, if you don't know exactly what it is, it is better to just get rid of it. The little guy isn't worth the risk.