Anyone ever seen a Scotus

[qwik]

First time I saw it I was freaked out ,lucky it was in a spot where I could not get to it or I would of . Turns out to be a scotus and a rather large one . After reading about it it is actually a good hitchhiker and actually sort of pretty . There also know as a Elephant Slug .

 

[dnov99]

Paul, I had one of these years ago and they are not good. They are algae eaters, but mine would eat coral, mainly SPS, acros and montis. It would eat the tissue right off the skeleton. In fact it seems to be doing that in the picture above.

They are also referred to as Keyhole Limpets, I believe the elephant slug is a different animal as they do not have the while slit on the back which would make it a keyhole limpet.

From Live aquaria:

The most common variety encountered in a reef aquarium is the Keyhole Limpet. They are a common import with live rock, and are typically colored in a mottled brown, black and tan pattern, and do not have a mantle that cover their shell. The Keyhole Limpets are typically half an inch long, or smaller, and feed on unwanted filamentous algae, cyanobacteria, diatoms and even hydroids. Unfortunately, in the SPS aquarium, they will also feed on the tissue of SPS corals.

 

[qwik]

Darren. I did a bit of reading when I first saw it to confirm it was not a keyhole. After reading about the different type of slugs I came to believe it is a elephant slug,scotus,they also have a hard shell that they cover and when they move you see that slit . That coral in the pic was like that before due to shading and today its the same minus the algae on the plug . I will keep a closer eye on it ,thanks.

 

[Hawkeye]

interesting!

what's the little orange polyp on the right - is that a sun coral?

 

[dnov99]

Ok cool, just keep an eye on it as it looks exactly like the one that I had in my tank years ago. I may be wrong in my ID of it as a keyhole limpet. I witnessed it first hand feeding on the base of the acros at night. Its edges were kind of ruffled like the one in your picture.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Ok cool, just keep an eye on it as it looks exactly like the one that I had in my tank years ago. I witnessed it first hand feeding on the base of the acros at night.

Darren, the reason it was eating is that your corals just look delicious!


I have no personal experience, but my hitchhiker reference states that the Shield Limpets (Scutus) are reef-safe. They are algae eaters (and maybe sponges).

SHIELD LIMPETS

 

[MadReefer]

Send one my way to eat the damn hair algae...LOL

Pretty cool looking.

 

[qwik]

Thanks all. Darren first time it even looks funny at a sps and its gone . Phil its a suncoral that was in real bad shape . I really dont feed it but put it upside down under a branch and it catches food that passes by .

 

[jimroth]

Back in the old days of the club, there was a guy (Russian? Truck driver?) who had them breeding like crazy in his tank. He once brought a bucket with maybe a dozen to a meeting and gave them out. They're good algae-eaters.