got freaked out

Was going to bed last night, and decided to check on my reef. Tank is semi-dark, just moonlights on. I see something weird with one of my live rocks. Could see some shadows of ridges that I never saw before. Anyhow, got a flashlight and I see this prehistoric looking thing on the rock. At first I thought it was a fossil on the rock, ( funny how I never noticed it before ) but then saw it move a little. I didn't want to touch it, so got a spoon and tried to move it off the rock, but this thing wasn't budging. I then got a knife and pried it off the rock. Took me a while to get it off. It was stuck on really strong. Put it into a bucket and took some pics of it ( pics coming as soon as wife downloads for me). This thing looked like a large wood louse, except it had an armoured body that could bend, underneath, looked like an abalone or a sea hare. I immediately went to wetwebmedia.com to identify this thing. I didn't want to put it back into the tank, not knowing if it's good or bad.
Found out that what I have is a Chiton. I've never seen one in real life. All the forums say they are reef safe cause they're herbivores. So, being more knowledgeable about the thing, I decided to keep him. Threw him back into the tank to continue keeping my tank clean. It was almost 2 inches long, about an inch wide. Armor plates were about 8 segments.
This thing looked like it was out of the jurassic era.

Anybody else got one?

here's some pics of it.
http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae85/burgerchow/DSC01345.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae85/burgerchow/DSC01344.jpg

 

yep I have a few. Good guys

 

Any way you can get a pic? Not all chitons are algae eaters, some are predatory towards shrimp, some corals, and even small fish.

 

chiton

packleader, I've got a couple of pics, I'll post them as soon as my wife downloads my camera. ( I'm a little tech challenged. lol )

 

chiton

I've added pics on my original post . You can see the shell got chipped when I had to use a steaknife to pry him off the rock.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae85/burgerchow/DSC01345.jpg

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae85/burgerchow/DSC01344.jpg

 

Thats pretty interesting. I'll have to look around my tank more often at night!

 

They are reef safe but they aren't acrylic tank safe. While cleaning algae off the acrylic, they can accidentally scratch it.

 

chiton

I've got 120 glass tank. Should be o.k. Only thing I'm worried about is if they can chew up the silicone in the corners?

 

No worries. They aren't even trying to scratch the acrylic. Even though they are only micro-abrasions...it's darn annoying to not have crystal clear vision into our tanks. These micro-abrasions are easily fixed....but it's just another chore so if you have chitons, give them to a friend with a glass tank.

 

K+ for saving me. I was about to jump on reefcleaners.org and order one of those. Nevermind that idea.