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>

What is this?        12/16/18
Hi Crew!
<Blue...>
You guys are my “go to” peeps whenever I’m stumped and you always come through!
I happen to notice this little guy climbing my glass and don’t know how he got in there, since I really haven’t added anything to the tank in weeks.
<Mmm; likely came in on live rock... or something solid that you added... like a coral; possibly from live food/s>
But, there he is. (see attached photo). Anyway, if you can’t completely identify it, can you guess if it might be friend or foe?
Thank you for your help!
<Appears to be a young Errantiate Polychaete of some sort/species. Some are widely labeled as bristleworms... I wouldn't panic, nor remove it. Likely will add interest, keep the substrate stirred, aerated.
Bob Fenner>

Don't think this is a medusa worm?      9/2/18
I have dry rock 2 inch sand bed tank is 4 months old 160 gal. 30 gal fuge skimmer 10 gal Chaeto tumbler. I suddenly have these worms. I'm sure it was a hitch hike off Chaeto. No one can tell me good or bad (. Please help before I have hundreds of them.
<Does look like one. In which case, is more related to sea cucumbers than to sea worms; these are generally peaceful scavengers, I wouldn´t worry as they pose no threat to aquarium inhabitants.>
Thanks in advance. Oh and what fish might
eat them? Copper banded butterfly maybe?
<If your tank is a fish only, you can try a Trigger fish, however If you have a mixed invertebrate/reef tank, try using a trap with some bait like fresh shrimp at night. My suggestion is to do this only if you see that they start to multiply or if you don´t want them at all in your tank >
<Wilberth>

Re: Don't think this is a medusa worm?      9/2/18
Thanks! Very much. Happy reefing
<You´re very welcome, nice weekend. Wilberth>

ID... Marine? Terrestrial?       8/15/18
Hello,
<Ron>
And thanks for any help you can provide.
<Let's see...>
I do some collecting for my aquarium when I snorkel in the Florida Keys. I found this in 2' of water 100' of the edge of a small island on the Florida Bay side of the Keys. It was in the bright sun on the surface of the seabed, not under a rock. I thought it was a small green sponge as it was in a small group of other sponges (purple, orange and brown). The others are obvious sponges, but this one has no excurrent holes I can find, and even with a magnifying glass I don't see any incurrent pores. I looked at a lot of sponges anyway and the only thing that came close is a ball sponge. But there were no green ones. The ones with the longest bumps or spines were way shorter than these. And they all seemed to come from cooler or colder waters. This was found in 80+ degree water. That leads me to assume it's an algae. But I've looked at hundreds of algae photos and found nothing remotely similar to this. I forwarded the info to 2 marine biologists I deal with at a local marine museum and they were stumped as well!
<I as well... >
It's slightly smaller than a golf ball. It's not hard or soft but firm, like a very small cell sponge. But as I said, I see no excurrent or incurrent holes or pores. The appendages or spines are stiff but not hard.
It does not move, but in just a day or two it has attached to a rock. It is currently sitting next to, almost on, a small rock flower anemone. Neither seems to mind being in contact with the other.
<Am thinking this is a terrestrial fruit or seed of some sort; summat like a drowned soursop. I'd be looking along the shoreline for more>
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. Even if it's just leads to other places to look or other people to ask. I want to put it in my display tank, but I'm concerned it may go 'sexual' like Caulerpa algae and nuke my tank or spread all over the tank.
<I'd be careful... not keep this in a prized setting>
Regards,
Ron Lindensmith
<Do me/us a favor and cut one open along the median and send a pic. Bob Fenner>

Re: ID     8/16/18
Hello Bob,
The idea that it could be terrestrial never entered my mind, or anybody else's that has been involved in the ID process so far. So A+ for thinking outside the box. And thanks for sharing that idea. I'll certainly pursue it more. But I don't want to cut open the only specimen I have just yet.
<Okay; and have shared amongst friends, on Facebook!>
We were just off Little Money Key (Florida Bay side at the SW end of the Seven Mile Bridge) which was virtually stripped clean of 95% of it vegetation 11 months earlier and still looks quite desolate except for a small amount of green along 10% of the island on the side where we found this.
<Ahh! >
Would you assume the green is some kind of algae growing on the fruit or seed pod?
<Nah; am more inclined to try scraping a bit off and looking under a few hundred power 'scope>
The green is still alive as the 'spikes' or 'tendrils' are growing small spheres at their tips and the spheres have tiny spikes sticking out of them. No many terrestrial plants would germinate in saltwater.
<Well... there are some 53 families of embryophytes that have "gone back" to the sea... considered "mangroves"... but again; I know naught>
Thank you for your incite and any further views would also be welcomed.
<Thank you Ron; for your continued sharing. BobF>
Regards,
Ron
Re: ID     8/16/18
Ron, howsit?
Marco Lichtenberger sent in a reply; and he (and I) think what you have is the seed of a Platanus species of tree. Do see this genus, pix... sugar maple, "monkey-ball" trees.
Perhaps P. hispanica or occidentalis for the location. Bob Fenner>
Re: ID     8/16/18
Bob, if I'm not mistaken, that is a very northern tree, and it's seed would end up in the Florida Keys?
Ron
<Mmm; well, trees get moved about quite a bit. I would not be surprised to find a Platanus member nearby the water, some place where the fruit could get into the water and wash down to the sea. BobF>

Odd ID, green spiky ball      8/18/18
Bob I sent it to the sponge ID God at the nmnh, Dr Klaus Ruetzler for a look. I don't know if he is still there or not but his email seems to work even though he is Emeritus now. If not, I know Dr Allen Collins there. Allen is Curator of jellyfish and the likes. They must still have a Sponge Curator there. He would know.
that was really quick... Lol
"You are right, this is a sponge: Tethya actinia de Laubenfels, 1950, first described from Bermuda. Both the orange and green varieties occur there together. I’m not sure what causes the green color. I seem to remember to have checked for algal/cyanobacterial symbionts but did not find any.
Klaus"
https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Tethya-actinia.html
<Thank you Boomer and Dr. K, BobF>

Id if possible.    7/13/18
Hi,
<Hi Adam>
I found a clear jelly like substance with the consistency like gummy bears.
It appears to have orange spheres within it.
Is it an egg or some form tunicate style organism.
<Appears to be some sort of harmless sea sponge>
I will be from Australian waters most likely great barrier reef or Perth western Australian reefs. As we cannot import invertebrates.
Thanks in advance Adam
<Welcome. Wilberth>

Re: Id if possible.     7/18/18
Hi Wet Web Media Crew/Wilberth
<Hi Adam,>
Is there any chance that was eggs as 4 days after going into the aquarium the object has disappeared. <?>
<Could be; and if these are indeed eggs of some kind, you´ll find out on the future, there’s a possibility that this is a species of sea squirt in its reproductive stage.>
It was attached to a coco worm, which was very slowly acclimatised and my system runs near sea water parameters for western Australia which is where a lot of coral is collected from Australia.
Regards
<Greetings. Wilberth>
Adam Smith

Id of worm/potential young sea cucumber      6/13/18
Hi,
Got a frag of sps of a fellow reefer and found a couple of worm like creatures that are very small on the bottom.
The guy i got the frags from has 2 cucumbers in his tank. To the best of his knowledge no bobbit/eunice worms.
Wondering if you might be able to id or help out.
The large one in pictures is about 4mm long.
<Wow! No wonder your pix aren't cropped, crisp (highly resolved)... Likely are Holothurians, but could be some type of worm. I wouldn't panic. Thanks for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Re: Id of worm/potential young sea cucumber      6/13/18
Hi Bob,
Yes was very hard to get pics. Those were the best i could get.
So you would say safe to let loose in display?
<Yes; I would>
I figure if they are small holothurians the sand would be a benefit.
Adam
<Agreed. Cheers Adam. BobF>

Purple rolly poly creature    6/7/18
Hi Crew!
<Hi Dani>
Found this hitchhiker while I was aquascaping. It is less than a quarter of an inch and resembles a roly poly bug.
<Ah yes, this is a mollusk of the class Polyplacophora, commonly known as Chiton or sea cradle, they have shells made up of eight overlapping calcareous valves; usually found on every environment, pose no threat to other aquarium inhabitants as they are algae eaters, always crawling over the glass or rockwork grazing for film algae and diatoms, so they can be use as part of the clean up crew.>
What I found most remarkable was his extremely bright purple color—like neon bright kind of purple! I let him be in the tank. Figured I’d share, just in case you haven’t come across this before, although you probably have lol.
<Thanks for sharing>
Sincerely, Dani Conner
<Wilberth.>