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View Full Version : Check out this cool hitchhiker!


Kyton66
09-29-2010, 04:21 AM
Hey :biggrin:

I picked up some fresh live rock with lots of coraline on it as well as this cool critter. I used to do a fair bit of diving, and always enjoyed seeing chitons. The rock came from Jakarta.

Cheers!


Here is some info from the net:
- Chitons are exclusively marine
-They live high in the intertidal zone and are exposed to the air and light for long periods. Others live subtidally. A few species live in deep water, as deep as 6,000 m (about 20,000 ft). - The mouth is located on the underside of the animal, and contains a tongue-like structure called a radula, which has numerous rows of 17 teeth each. The teeth are coated with magnetite, a hard ferric/ferrous oxide mineral. The radula is used to scrape microscopic algae off the substratum.
- Several species of Chiton are known to exhibit homing behaviours, journeying to feed and then returning to the exact unique spot they previously inhabited.

RuGlu6
09-29-2010, 04:27 AM
Nice !
Never seen one in red !
Usually they are brownish green this one is really cool!

MrGoodbytes
09-29-2010, 04:40 AM
Yeah, that's a nice chiton :). Nice find.

bvlester
09-29-2010, 06:41 AM
I have some brownish one in my tank, this one very cool.

Bill

fishytime
09-29-2010, 12:51 PM
welcome to canreef btw.....how come I only seem to get nasty hitchhikers????....very cool find!