Help with limpet ?

[seaspook]

i guess this little critter is a limpet, it looks like she is wearing a orange ruffled hat. i could not find any info about it, what can you tell me

thanks

alan

http://members.aol.com/seaspook9800/limpet

[rshimek]

Hi,

Boy, when it rains, it pours.... ;)

You are the second person in about 3 days to ask me about this creature (the other person emailed the picture to me).

It is called a fleshy limpet, and is actually a type of keyhole limpet in the genus Lucapina or Lucapinella. It has a good shell but the mantle extends up around the outside of the limpet giving almost a "nudibranchy" :) look. The small hole in the center gives away the affinities to standard keyhole limpets.

They probably get to about 1" to 2" long. They are grazers and eat algae, but may also east some sessile animals such as sponges, hydroids, or perhaps soft corals. I would consider it reef safe until proven otherwise.

:D