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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification 41
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 40,
Non-Vert ID 42, & 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
Identification, LR 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, |
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Seems to be some controversy about what these are: Munnid and likely
Sphaeromatid 11/3/08
<Hi Jared>
You guys seem to be very
knowledgeable when it comes to pods. Can you identify the two in the
attached picture?
<The creature on the left is a harmless/beneficial
little isopod in the family Munnidae, commonly known as a Munnid. For
more information, please see the following links:
FAQs here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/isopodid.htm
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-08/rs/index.php
http://bb.wetwebmedia.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=12
I can't see much
detail on the other critter, but the silhouette looks like that of
another generally harmless isopod, family Sphaeromatidae, commonly known
as a Sphaeromatid. For more information, please see the following links:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/isopodid.htm
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/rs/index.php
http://isopods.nhm.org/information/
If you have some time and want
to try for an ID (or at least narrow things down), you can go through
the images at the following site:
http://isopods.nhm.org/databases/isoimages/ . It will only bring to view
a limited number of images for any given search, so you'll need to pare
things down a bit. Check Sphaeromatidae in the Select taxa column,
followed by Show Images. Then select one genus (at a time), Select view
= Dorsal, Select sex = Male, Select age = Adult, "Select geographic
region" = unless you know where your little guy came from, select
"Unknown/could not be determined" and leave the rest as is. It's a very
time consuming process, but interesting and potentially rewarding. I
hope this helps settle the controversy, if not, please let me know. The
good news is that Munnids and Sphaeromatids are harmless/beneficial
little critters that add biodiversity and interest to a system (not to
mention a livestock food source!>
Thank you,
Jared
<You're
very welcome. Take care, -Lynn> |  |
Help Identifying Unusual Object: Likely Garden Slug – 10/29/08
Dear Sir or Madam,
<Hello Grant, Lynn here today>
I would be
grateful for any help you can give in identifying the object
photographed in the attachments.
<Will certainly give it my best.>
A 48 year old man found this in his toilet and assumed he had passed it.
<Oh my>
It was submitted to our laboratory for identification.
<Understandable. By the way, very nice photos!>
It is approx. 4mm in
length and was mucoid. It was dried out on the side of the container and
the dorsal surface was damaged when removing it. After overnight storage
in 10% formalin, mouthparts were recognized. I haven't come across
anything like it. It does not appear to be segmented like an Oligochaete
and it does not have horns like a slug.
<My guess is that the
tentacles are retracted.>
I wondered about it being Turbellaria
(?brown Planaria).
<Looks to me like it could be some sort of
Pulmonate terrestrial/garden slug (Order: Stylommatophora – possibly in
the Family Limacidae (slug whose dorsal surface is keel-shaped where it
terminates at the posterior) or Arionidae (slugs with rounded backs – no
keel). There doesn’t appear to be an apparent keel on the subject you
provided photos of, but I’ve seen species of Limax (family Limacidae)
where it’s not all that obvious or apparent. It’s also possible that
your specimen may have been distorted through desiccation/rehydration.
Please see the following link showing a Limax sp. with no apparent keel
(also note the retracted tentacles):
http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~acnnnghm/BY255L/BY255LImages/BY255LImages-Mollusca/Limax-1.jpg
More photos of slugs, for general examples:
http://members.tripod.com/arnobrosi/slug.html
Slugs and snails of the
UK: http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/T411.HTM
Basic biology of slugs
w/diagram: http://www.arnobrosi.com/slugbio.html
As unusual as it
sounds to have one of these guys show up in the bathroom where this one
did, apparently, it’s not all that uncommon. After doing a bit of
research, I ran across numerous reports. One poor woman had them
reproducing like mad on the inside lid of the toilet’s holding tank –
yikes!>
I assume this is an accidental finding of something which
has entered the soil pipe leading to the toilet,
<That would be my
guess as well. It likely gained entrance through some sort of breach to
the outdoors or even via a plant that was recently brought inside.>
as it does not show signs of partial digestion.
<That’s always a good
thing! What’s worse than finding a slug in your toilet? Finding one
that’s half digested!>
Thanks in advance.
Grant Spence
<You’re
very welcome. Take care –Lynn> |   |
Anemone-Like Creature ID: Rock-Dwelling Cucumber – 10/21/08
Hello,
<Hi John>
I have a quick question on a creature that I have
residing in my tank. It looks like the top of a cucumber but has no body
that I can see.
<You hit the nail on the head! What you’re seeing is
the pretty little feeding apparatus of a rock-dwelling dendrochirote
holothuroid/sea cucumber. The rest of the body is hidden within the
rockwork. By the way, nice photo!>
It does not seem to change
positions in the tank,
<Typical. They tend to find a crevice or hole
and stay there.>
..and doesn't seem to have harmed anything so far.
<Nope, they’re harmless suspension feeders.>
It will spread out it's
"branches" and collect particulate out of the water column, when it
catches something it will put the "branch" in its mouth and "lick" it
clean.
<Terrific observations. That’s exactly what it looks like.
When one of the tentacles captures a bit of food, it curls inward,
bringing the food to the mouth; when through, the tentacle unfurls back
into position.>
I have tried to find information on this, but have
had little luck.
<Try this link,
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cukeidfaqs.htm - starting at the query “Odd
Invert With Eight Tree Branch Shaped Tentacles! Holothuroid 8/21/07”,
and continue on to the one just below it titled “Anemone Id? Nope, It’s
A Cuke! 8/10/07”. Be sure to also look through the related links at the
top of the page.>
Thank you for your help and time.
<My pleasure,
John.>
Sincerely,
John
<Take care, -Lynn> | |
What do you think it is? Asterina star – 10/20/08
Hi
<Hi,
Dee>
I have had my tank for only about 8 months. While in the process
of removing an aggressive fish, I noticed what appears to be a baby
starfish. I have attached pic's. I have one Chocolate Chip Starfish but
I have only had him/her for about two weeks. I’m confused as to what it
might be. Let me know what you think.
<It looks like a fairly common
hitchhiker known as an Asterina star (Family Asterinidae). The species
we most commonly see as hitchhikers are generally harmless/beneficial,
stay fairly small (under 1/2”), and reproduce asexually by means of
fission/splitting. Although there are occasional reports of these stars
damaging corals, they’re usually associated with high density, out of
control, population situations. Again, for the most part these are
harmless, so until/unless you see evidence otherwise, I’d enjoy the
little star! Please see the following link (as well as the associated
links at the top of the page) for more information:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/asterinafaqs.htm >
Thank you
Dee
<You’re very welcome, -Lynn> Re: What do you think it is?
Asterina star – 10/20/08
Thank you and thank you for the
site.
<It’s our/my pleasure, Dee. Take care, -Lynn> |  |
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