Sunset Anthias Quarantine       2/12/19 Good Morning, <Hey Jason> I currently have 3 Pseudanthias parvirostris in a 29 gallon quarantine tank eating well and always out and about. I also have 3 more Pseudanthias parvirostris on the way and was wondering if they would be alright in the same quarantine tank as the first 3 or should I put them in their own tank. <The new ones may not be welcome by the others, If these were mine, I would quarantine them separately and introduce the six at the same time to the display tank.> On a side not could you tell me what is living in this tube as I've seen it attack a snail several times when close. I've attached a photo. <If all the legs are about the same size, its an Amphipod, not dangerous.> Thanks Jason <Welcome. Wil.>

Jawfish, Shrimp/Goby Pairs, and Picture ID       1/25/19 Good Morning Bob, Please see attached photos but I was wondering if the sand in the tank was too coarse for either a shrimp/goby pair or for Jawfish. <It is not too coarse. Should work fine w/ the rubble et al. here> The sand is fine overall but with a lot of rubble and broken sea shells. Also one of the pictures has some type of tiny shrimp I was hoping you could help identify. <Not from this pic, no> Kind of looks like a tiny Mantis shrimp and there are three of them in the tank. <Do keep your eyes open... IF you're starting to miss other livestock, trapping may be in order... (See WWM), or at the worst, systematically dismantling your rock work, tank to remove them... IF they are Stomatopods; start causing trouble.> In the picture of the sand I was wondering if you knew what those black stick things are on the right side of the picture. They are hollow and looks like some type of tube. <Yes; appear to be some type/species of Featherduster, tubeworm> The green algae on the left is in one of those tubes. Do you know of any type of organism from the Gulf of Mexico that would have green tentacles like that as I assume it's some type of algae growing from the tube? <Looks to be a Green... perhaps a Chlorodesmis species... hopefully controllable... not Derbesia or... Bryopsis> Thanks for taking the time to answer and hope you have a great day. P.S. Are you going to be at Reef Palooza in Orlando this year, I believe it's sometime in April? Jason <Don't know; but I would. I thought the folks were going to ask me to speak there last year. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

found something strange..       5/30/14 hey, i found something strange when i ate shrimps the other day, cant figure out what it is.. <Neat! Some sort of spiky orange amphipod! Bob Fenner>

Can you identify these little critters     12/9/13 Hey guys. Attached please find two pictures of the same little guy. They appear in hundreds in my sump. The scoot around on their little legs quite rapidly. I _think_ they are harmless amphipods, but I just want to be sure. Thanks guys for sharing your knowledge. Matt <As you say. Bob Fenner>

question. Crab, shrimp ID sans pic    11/5/11
Hi there,
<Sandra>
I am a dive master working at the Ningaloo Reef in WA. On a dive a few days ago I found a very small shrimp or crab hidden in a little hole in a rock.
It was just about 1 cm or 1,5 cm long, purple/pinkish and it's limbs seemed to be round, like tiny little balls. I am aware that this isn't exactly a lot of information for you but I thought I give it a shot, I can't find anything like it online. Unfortunately I couldn't get a photo. I will try to find it again, but with it being that small, my chances are not too good, I am afraid.
I appreciate your help,
Sandra
<Does sound like a Pom Pom Crab... Do see the Net re Lybia tesselata Was it something like this?
Bob Fenner>

Unknown Black Shrimp (A Stomatopod'¦likely) -- 07/09/11
Good morning to all at wet web media,
<<Greetings Jennie>>
you have been brilliant in all your advice and look forward to many more problems solved by you all.
<<We thank you for the kind words>>
Now for my question. Yesterday afternoon while watching our tank which we do for hours a day (we don't seem to watch telly anymore as the fishes are much more interesting)
<<Indeed>>
my husband spotted a black shrimp looking creature going from one hole to another on the same piece of live rock at lighting speed.
<<Ah'¦a Stomatopod, likely>>
He called me over and I sat and waited and I also spotted it for the first time in over a year of having the tank.
<<Not unusual'¦can be quite secretive/shy>>
We have various small community fishes in the tank ranging from small blue green Chromis to flame Firefish to a rather large common clown, and a small yellow watchmen goby (three other small fishes as well just letting you know there sizes etc). We also have a porcelain crab that was a wonderful hitchhiker, 3 small hermits, and a half dozen turbo snails. In the whole time we have had our babies we have never (touch wood I hope I haven't done the commentator's curse) lost any fish unexpectedly, all members are accounted for.
<<Excellent>>
Also to let you know we have not added any more live rock since we set up. So we removed the rock out and put it in to our tank cleaning bucket to have a better look and to check we had been able to remove it, which we did, but still didn't get a good look due to its lightning speed. Feeling mean we then put it in to our other 20 UK gallon tank (that's been set up for two months not knowing what to do with it) with the live rock to try and have a better look, but to no avail, all I can tell you is the following, it is around 1 and a 1/2 inches long, black/brown in colour, and super fast. We have never heard any clicking noises and I often fall a sleep downstairs and am a very light sleeper, and like I said never lost any members and that was the first time we spotted him, and so very proud we caught it instantly. So is it a mantis shrimp or something else?
<<I think it is very likely you have a small Stomatopod here>>
I feel so horrid to let him be killed if it is a mantis shrimp as it wasn't his fault he has come to be living in our tank, it never asked to be moved from his home in the ocean, so would like to try and keep him in his own species tank if possible.
<<These are truly fascinating creatures'¦the 20g tank you have it in now would be superb as a species tank>>
Or is it something else from the description?
<<I think the 'Mantis' guess is correct>>
Looking forward to your reply to try and find out what it is so we can make sure we feed him with what he needs.
Love, Jennie
<<Have a look here (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/), along with some 'Googling' on our site and the Net in general re 'Mantis Shrimp Care'. Cheers'¦ EricR>>