Logo
Please visit our Sponsors
FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification 40

Related Articles: Marine Invertebrates, Marine Invertebrate Systems, Marine Invertebrate Compatibility, Marine Invertebrate Disease, Marine Invertebrate Reproduction, Quarantine of Corals and Invertebrates, Feeding Reef Invertebrates, Lighting Marine Invertebrates, Water Flow, How Much is Enough,

Related FAQs: Non-Vert IDs 1, Non-Vert IDs 2, Non-Vert IDs 3, Non-Vert IDs 4, Non-Vert IDs 5, Non-Vert IDs 6, Non-Vert IDs 7, Non-Vert IDs 8, Non-Vert IDs 9, Non-Vert IDs 10, Non-Vert IDs 11, Non-Vert IDs 12, Non-Vert IDs 13, Non-Vert IDs 14, Non-Vert IDs 15, Non-Vert IDs 16, Non-Vert IDs 17, Non-Vert IDs 18, Non-Vert. ID 19, Non-Vert. ID 20, Non-Vert. ID 21, Non-Vert. ID 22, Non-Vert. ID 23, Non-Vert. ID 25, Non-Vert ID 26, Non-Vert ID 27, Non-Vert ID 28, Non-Vert ID 29, Non-Vert ID 30, Non-Vert ID 31, Non-Vert ID 32, Non-Vert 33, Non-Vert ID 34 Non-Vert ID 35, Non-Vert ID 36, Non-Vert ID 37, Non-Vert ID 38, Non-Vert ID 39, Non-Vert ID 41, Non-Vert ID 42, Non-Vert ID 43, Non-Vert ID 44, Non-Vert ID 45, Non-Vert ID 46, Non-Vert ID 47, Non-Vert ID 48, Non-Vert ID 49, Non-Vert ID 50, Non-Vert ID 51, Non-Vert ID 52, Non-Vert ID 53, Non-Vert ID 54, Non-Vert ID 55, Non-Vert ID 56, Non-Vert ID 57, Non-Vert ID 58, Non-Vert ID 59, Non-Vert ID 60, Non-Vert ID 61, & Marine Invertebrates, Marine Invert.s 2, Marine Invert.s 3, & FAQs about: Marine Invertebrate Behavior, Marine Invertebrate Compatibility, Marine Invertebrate Selection, Marine Invertebrate Systems, Feeding Reef Invertebrates, Marine Invertebrate Disease, Marine Invertebrate Reproduction& & LR Life IdentificationLR Hitchhiker ID 1, Anemone Identification, Aiptasia Identification, Aiptasia ID 2, Worm Identification, Tubeworm ID, Polychaete Identification, Snail Identification, Marine Crab Identification, Marine Invert.s 1, Marine Invert.s 2, Marine Plankton 

Weird flat spider thing  10/17/08 Guys, the information on this site is outstanding. My uncle was a Nat Geo marine photographer, and he seems to of passed the fascination on to me. I trolled your site but can't find what I'm looking for. Hope you can give me some clues to research <OK.> I just got home and the light timer hadn't been working...... which is another story. I got some awesome live rock from Queensland with a huge amount of life forms in it. All sorts of worms, crabs, tiny star fish, different slugs, crazy looking fungus and sponges, things that squirt stuff.... too much to mention. Anyway, enough boasting. I turned the lights on and there was this huge dark coloured flat creature with a centre piece, maybe 1.5inch to 2inch with between 6 - 8 hairy legs coming from the centre, that got thinner towards the ends. I guess the total diameter of the creature was about 6 - 8inch. It's ran away quickly a bit like an Octopus might. <Hmm... without a photo, obviously difficult to out a name to this.> Any ideas? <Do review the genus Percnon, particularly Percnon gibbesi, a very common "stowaway" in reef tanks. It's very flattened, has long legs, and up to a point is amphibious. It's an invasive species, and has recently appeared in the Mediterranean.> Many thanks
<Cheers, Neale.>

Critter Ids -- 10/09/08 Good Afternoon, <Good morning.> I have just a few questions that I cant seem to find an answer to. First all the pertinent info, the tank is 90 gal with 2-250w 14k HQI bulbs and 4 65w actinic CF. with a 30 gal sump. The water parameters are as follows. Salinity-1.024, Ammonia-0, Nitrate-0, Nitrite-0, Phosphate-0, Alk-8, Cal-480, Temp 77 day 75 night. Okay here are the questions I recently re-arranged some rock to provide better water circulation and I found this weird spiky egg looking thing. It is approx. 2'' in a egg shape. Its kind of hard to see the little spikes in the pic but they are there. <A sponge. See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/spongeidfaq2.htm and the other FAQs.> The other "thing" in question is this little tube like worm growing on the side of my hammer coral. It appears to be a pinkish tube with a black worm inside. It sends out a long string of mucus which traps stuff then sucks it back in. I read the other post on this but there were no pics. The pic that I have is not the best as I would have to disassemble quite a bit to get a great pic of it but if you look in between the two heads you will see the little black creature with the two "pincher's?" and the mucus trail. <A Vermetid snail (worm snail, a sessile gastropod). Another harmless animal, only in few cases with thousands of individuals they apparently somewhat irritated corals with their mucus nets See http://www.wetwebmedia.com/snailidfaq7.htm and do a WWM/Net search on Vermetid.> Just curious if either of these little creatures are anything to be worried about? <Absolutely harmless. Enjoy them.> Thxs, Kris. <Welcome. Marco.> <<Spot on, as usual Marco. RMF>>

If I could bother you or one of the other crew members with a snail and parasite, ID,  9/27/08 Thanks, Bob!!! <Welcome> If I could bother you or one of the other crew members with a snail and parasite, ID, I'd appreciate it. I have gone through all the snail ID pictures and descriptions on all the 17 plus pages and of course, like most people, no one has a snail "just like mine". I had it narrowed down to the three most common ones people ask to have ID'd, Nerite, Collonista and baby Turbo, but I went through that site you have linked that shows all of the shells of those and I could find a few that were similar, but, of course, none "just like mine". They are primarily nocturnal but do appear during the day. I find them every where. On the glass. On the rocks. And on the corals, especially Zoas and leathers. I've even found some under the microscope in water samples that I couldn't see with the naked eye. It does have a pattern similar to a sundial but it has a smooth shell and doesn't have the pagoda shaped operculum. They also appear to have calcareous egg shells on the rocks but they are not round or sesame seed shaped, they are more like a pentagon. <I don't see these in my ref. works either. Am sending your query to friend and "shell nut" Marty Beals of Tideline for his input> The parasites I got off of a small piece of Acropora and Kenya Tree that I was given by a friend that I had in quarantine. <Mmm, don't consider these parasites... other than "space"... perhaps predators... Am pretty sure these are Ostracods> They were both fine for about 3 weeks and then the Acropora went in less than 3 days. It started losing tissue at the base and went right up to the tip. The Kenya Tree started throwing off it's own branches but is still doing okay in quarantine. Since the Acropora was already lost, I did a dip in Iodine and all that came off were these little critters. I dipped one of the branches of Kenya Tree and found the same thing. One picture is magnified at 40 times, the other is at 100 times. You can barely see the critter with the naked eye. It looks like a flea with shorter legs. Iodine dip doesn't seem to kill the critters. They were even alive after a day in RO/DI water. You know microscopes are addictive when you have a reef tank. <Ah yes> Once you think you've seen everything in your reef tank, you are sadly mistaken until you've seen it under a microscope. Thanks Everybody!!!!! <I don't think these small crustaceans were/are the root of the Cnidarians health issues. Bob Fenner>

Hi Bob, Is it me, or do those look a lot like larval cirripedes? Cheers, Neale <Mmm, you may be right... will amend. Thank you, BobF>

Question about hermit crab growths 9/26/08 Hey there Crew, Grant speaking. <Howdy Grant> I've got some hermit crabs in my tank and just recently I noticed one of them with some type of growths all across the back of the shell. <I see them> They are very tiny, they look like little anemones. They are pink hued, but I think they might just be clear and since the shell has coralline algae, they look pink? <Yes> Any idea what they might be? <A few guesses, yes> I've included a picture but it is really hard to get a good shot, they are so tiny. They act like a little anemone, but they don't move around at all, I was thinking maybe some type of Xenia or the pulsing hand corals? <Mmm, not my first guess... Likely either a red algae or some sort of Hydrozoan> I don't know much about them, but if I had to guess they look like miniature versions of the ones I've seen in pet stores. Small stalk with a white center and some frilly finger type appendages all around the white center. The only thing that makes me thing they aren't Xenia is they have what looks to be a lot of "fingers" whereas all the Xenia I've seen only have 5 or so. But again, it is so tiny I cant really tell. Thanks for any help you can give! <If you can make a higher resolved image... maybe look for a "macro" mode on your camera... and/or larger file size... if a digital SLR a "macro" lens... I'd like to see this a bit more clear, close-up. Oh, at any length, this is not likely a problem for the Hermit, your other livestock, system. Cheers, Bob Fenner>

Re: Question about hermit crab growths  10/6/08 Thanks for the reply. I got a somewhat better picture of it, still not GREAT but hopefully helps you out a little more than the last one. Grant <Ahh, thank you for this pic... do look "Polypoid"... am more sure these are indeed Hydroids/Hydropolyps... There are many "kinds" as you will see... as long as these don't spread to your hardscape, I would count your Hermit lucky to have such a built in defense. Cheers, BobF>

Oh yeah

What's this stuff? -- 09/22/08 Hello. <Hi Eric.> I recently added this nice Favia as the first coral in my new 30g setup, which has been cycling with 25# of Tonga LR since June. No fish yet, just a CUC. Lighting is 150w MH. Anyway, I've noticed recently these white colored "sprouts" growing downward from the underside of the rock that the Favia is attached to (hopefully, you can make this out in the attached pics). <Yes, a little blurry, but I know what you mean.> Any guess as to what this is? They're growing from what appear to be little white polyps--but what do I know? <Harmless Syconoid sponges. See http://www.wetwebmedia.com/sponges.htm , and http://www.wetwebmedia.com/spongeidfaq4.htm and the other FAQs linked at the top of this page.> This is why I seek your expertise, which I very much respect and appreciate. Thanks, Eric <Welcome. Marco.>

Unknown organism   9/19/08 Hello Crew, <Peter> Hope everyone is well.? I am attaching? two pictures of an organism that has shown up in my in the 1st chamber (which houses my protein skimmer) and 3rd chamber (return pump) of my refugium.? Currently there are about 19 of these organisms throughout these two chambers and it seems like they are multiplying quickly.? One of them is even inside the protein skimmer.? No signs of any in my main tank or refugium chamber. Please help me identify it. Thank you in advance Peter <Mmm, these are sponges... see here: http://wetwebmedia.com/spongeidfaqs.htm and the linked files in the sequence above... Not harmful, actually of use. Bob Fenner>

Re: Unknown organism    9/20/08 Hi Bob...Thanks for the response. Would you suggest feeding some of the sponges to my Imperator angelfish? Thanks again Peter <Worth trying. BobF>

Question, ID... invert. related   9/18/09 Hello Gang, <Oliver> I have included a few images of something I noticed floating around my aquarium the other night. I apologize for the quality of the photos, but I was scrambling to piece my camera together and before I knew it, it flew into a powerhead and was destroyed. Every now and then I would noticed a few strands of spider web silk on the rocks and wonder where it was coming from, but have never seen a huge blob like this floating! <Neat!> The "stuff" floating around looked like a ball of spider web! I looked around the internet to see what I could find, and there wasn't much, especially in terms of photos to match this too. I did read that certain worms are known to produce a silk like material, and once and only once did I see a small worm swimming around the aquarium, but as soon as I hit the lights, the little guy zipped inside a rock. It happened so fast that I'm not able to give an accurate description of it. I have had my tank for about 4 months, and when I purchased my rock, a Spaghetti Worm (Terebellid Polychaete) hitchhiked along. Recently I have noticed a second set of spaghetti-ing coming out of another rock, and after doing some research, led me to believe that they are capable of multiplying. Could this ball of spider web-ish silky "stuff" be coming from the Spaghetti Worm, or something else? <Maybe...> From my description, can you identify the producer of this release? Should I be worried? Do I have some type of cannibalistic Spider Fish Monster Hybrid? Thanks in advance, Oliver Kiss <This is very likely a "feeding" structure... made of mucus... that something, perhaps a worm, is producing, sending out to trap food particles... usually would be ingested... Not a problem. Bob Fenner>

Become a Sponsor Features:
Daily FAQs FW Daily FAQs SW Pix of the Day FW Pix of the Day New On WWM
Helpful Links Hobbyist Forum Calendars Admin Index Cover Images
Featured Sponsors: