Weird Egg or Snail or Something else?

[bossrocket]

Hello,

I’m trying to figure out what this new thing in my saltwater reef tank is. I noticed it about 1 week after adding some Tampa Bay Saltwater premium live rocks to my tank about two months ago.

It does not move around the tank. It stays in this exact place and has never migrated. I have seen it “move” its form very slightly to brace itself when sprayed with a jet of water from a syringe or when being pressed on by a bigger snail or urchin. I’m convinced it is an animal of some sort.

It is about 1.5 inches long and looks a little bit like the thorax of a grasshopper.
Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Reefing_addiction]

wow cool but I have no clue

Bump for you!

 

[Maritimer]

Possibly a bivalve mollusk of some sort?

~B.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

You need @ISpeakForTheSeas ! THat is weird looking for sure.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Bivalve, but not sure what kind. Have you asked TBS or looked at the hitchhiker page on their site?

 

[bossrocket]

Good advice. I ch

Bivalve, but not sure what kind. Have you asked TBS or looked at the hitchhiker page on their site?

Good advice. Thank you. I checked out the TBS hitchhiker page and didn’t see it, so I emailed them a photo and asked if they knew what it was. I’ll let folks know when they respond.

Based on size and shape and the way it moves (or rather Doesn’t move), I’m inclined to agree it must be some bivalve of some sort, but I’ve never seen anything like it before.

 

[bossrocket]

TBS just replied. Apparently it is a Turkey Wing Clam

Arca zebra, or the turkey wing ark clam (or simply turkey wing), is a bivalve mollusc in the familyArcidae, the ark clams.

The photos in Wikipedia are accurate to what is in my tank! Enigma solved ! Thank you all for your help!

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Well that’s cool

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

TBS just replied. Apparently it is a Turkey Wing Clam

Arca zebra, or the turkey wing ark clam (or simply turkey wing), is a bivalve mollusc in the familyArcidae, the ark clams.

The photos in Wikipedia are accurate to what is in my tank! Enigma solved ! Thank you all for your help!

You need @ISpeakForTheSeas ! THat is weird looking for sure.

I'm late and TBS nailed it, but yeah - Arca species have a pretty distinctive shape to the hinge and umbos. Neat and harmless; as a bit of a random fact, some Arca species are facultatively mobile as adults, so they can detach and hop around a little.

Anyway, if you want to try and help it do well (which it may or may not without intervention):

Bivalves are harmless filter feeders; some do well in our tanks, but others tend to starve. If you want to try and help yours do well, you can feed phytoplankton like Isochrysis (Isochrysis galbana [T-Iso]), Chaetoceros (Chaetoceros sp./spp.), and Thalassiosira (Thalassiosirasp./spp.) or a blend containing one or more of those.

diatoms like Chaetoceros, Skeletonema, and Thalassiosira are good options, and a lot of bivalves appreciate things like Isochrysis galbana/T-Iso and Tetraselmis as well.