1 shell 2 creatures- a hermit/snail inquiry

so iv seem some deranged things when it comes to hermits. corals growing on the shell, insane acrobatics, snail surfing heck iv even seen my zebra hermit climb on the top of a power head, how he got up there remains a mystery to me as there were no rock leading up there. anyway....

was taking a close look at my little bugger and noticed he has a little side kick stuck to his shell. it looks like a limpet or some sort of snail. anyone know what it is? the "tongue" or mouth is pitch black

 

cup and saucer limpet?

 

It is a Slipper Limpet.

 

merci Cheryl, its pretty cool to see the interaction they have. while the hermit munches away on what he can find on the sand bed with his clamps the limpet does the same just under his belly....awesome sauce

 

would they be parasitic?

 

I believe they are, unfortunately.

 

do you know if they readily reproduce in a captive environment?

 

No they do not if I remember correctly.

Hopefully pagojoe will chime in.

I have no luck finding any other information about them. There were a couple threads regarding Slipper Limpets but I can find them.

 

This critter is a sequential hermaphrodite. They often pile up, with the largest, oldest specimens at the bottom of the pile being female. If the females die, the larger males change sex.

They are considered invasive and have destroyed commercial oyster beds in some areas. It is a non-native species in Europe that was transferred unintentionally via an oyster shipment from the Long Island sound to the UK which occurred over 100 years ago. (This info is from a US gov't case study).

 

Interesting I would think 25-28.C would be to warm for them then no? Chances of survival? I don't mind having it my tank but I don't want it killing off my hermit