Snails without shells?
 

I found these in my sump this morning. I probably have 100+ of them. They're all over pumps, in my skimmer, blocking tubes, etc. I was wondering why my skimmer stopped working, and these guys were the answer.

My question is - what are they? At first glance, I thought there were snails, but they don't have a shell. They're also very stubborn and somewhat difficult to remove from the surface they've stuck too. They're squishy like a slug.

Second question - How do I get rid of them? I haven't seen any in my display tank, but like I mentioned, they're all over the sump, and I don't want them to block my skimmer intake hose again.

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Thanks for your help!

Do they move?

They look like some sort of sponge, but that may be the picture that makes them look like that.

If they move, and they are shell-less snails...stomatella snails would be my guess.

I second the sponge. Filter feeder.

looks like a pineapple sponge

They don't seem to be moving, but if they don't how would they have gotten into my skimmer? Just in the water flow?

looks like a sponge.....i have hundreds of them in my sump too!!

btw a snail without a shell is a slug :O)

Search for Scypha sponge or pineapple sponge. They're harmless filter feeders.

picture isn't working for me, but it sounds like exactly what I have all over in my HOB skimmer. I just keep them cleaned off the pump. Don't know what else to do about them LOL.

Is this a better pic of what you have?

<a href="http://s496.photobucket.com/albums/rr321/dougcobb/?action=view&current=aa4b9316.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr321/dougcobb/aa4b9316.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

They are all over my sump to and was told that they were harmless filter feeder sponges.

Yep,pineapple sponge.