# Identify this weird tidepool creature? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 25, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528 "2006-12-25T15:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/1 "2006-12-25T15:28:46Z")
My parents took a trip to Hawaii (Big Island, if it matters), and brought back lots of pictures. One of them they couldn’t identify, and they agreed to let me post it here to see if the SDMBers could identify it: [Bizarre creature](http://flickr.com/photos/25361445@N00/332780555/) The largest of the creatures were about two inches long, for scale. Anybody have any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/2 "2006-12-25T16:20:57Z")
From that picture, it’s hard to tell whether we’re seeing legs or just striations on the shell. If it’s **not** legs, perhaps they are [limpets?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limpet) Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/3 "2006-12-25T16:34:12Z")
After more Googling around, I wonder if they’re some sort of chiton? I didn’t see any pics that looked enough like them to be worth posting. But it’s got to be some overall kind of creature, and it ain’t a fish…so far limpet or chiton are my best guesses. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/4 "2006-12-25T16:37:36Z")
Definitely looks like a chiton to me but it’s hard to tell. If that’s a digital picture, any way you could zoom and crop the original to make one of the critters easier to see? ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/5 "2006-12-25T16:37:49Z")
No, she says that the “fringes” (if they weren’t actually legs) were separate, not some sort of radial striation. She wasn’t sure if they were using the “legs” to move or if there was some other form of locomotion involved. Also, the “shell” wasn’t hard like a crab shell or a scallop – more like a fish’s scales, if you had to compare it to something. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/6 "2006-12-25T16:40:45Z")
The maximum resolution we have is 1024 x 768; it’s on Flickr [here.](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/160/332780555_e4937e3f18_b.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/7 "2006-12-25T16:50:52Z")
Shingle urchin ( _Colobocentrotus atratus_ ). It has sharply reduced spineage, due to its intertidal habitat, hence its peculiar appearance. You can scroll down to see it here: [http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/stender/marine/echinoderms/urchins/urchins.htm](http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/stender/marine/echinoderms/urchins/urchins.htm) - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/8 "2006-12-25T18:58:55Z")
[QUOTE=Tamerlane] Shingle urchin ( _Colobocentrotus atratus_ ). It has sharply reduced spineage, due to its intertidal habitat, hence its peculiar appearance. [/QUOTE] That’s the one. Many thanks! ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-weird-tidepool-creature/385528/9 "2006-12-26T21:09:57Z")
[Weird ass sea urchin _‘uke‘uke_, pdf from The Waikiki Aquarium](http://www.waquarium.org/MLP/root/pdf/MarineLife/Invertebrates/Echinoderms/HawaiianSeaUrchins.pdf)