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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification
23 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 24,
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 41, 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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Hitchhiker critter 3/8/07
Greetings!
<And
salutations! Mich here.>
I am relatively new to Saltwater Aquaria.
<Do you have "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert M. Fenner in
your library? If not, you should. It will help you navigate your way
through this often-challenging hobby.>
I have a 30-gallon reef tank
with 30 lbs of live rock and sand. The tank has been running well with
no causalities since December, 2006. All weekly water tests are great!
Tonight I saw for the first time an unidentifiable snail or slug. From
what I read on your site, I am actually thinking it could be a sea slug
or nudibranch.
<Possible.>
It is cream in color with tiny brown
spots, about the size of a fingernail and has no apparent shell. It can
contort its body into many shapes and ultimately squeezes down into
small holes in the live rock. It was sucking on the glass today and from
the underneath it appeared just like a normal snail. It's an obvious
hitchhiker, but I was curious if it would pose any problems to my
current livestock.
<Difficult to say without a picture.>
(Coral
Beauty, Maroon Clown, Neon Goby, Firefish, 3 green Chromis, Mexican
hermits, a couple Turbos and a skunk cleaner.)
<Seven fish! In a 30
gallon tank! Yikes! Won't be happy for long... Now I'm doubly
recommending the book!>
I got lucky and also have some Hawaiian
Feather duster clumps that have recently shown themselves and are
growing.
<Very nice.>
I enjoy them all and would be disappointed
if I were to lose them to this new critter.
<Glad to hear.>
I've
read that some Nudi's can expel toxins. I appreciate your assistance and
expertise.
<Really is difficult to say, especially without a
photo. You have a rather small system and it doesn't take much to upset
the balance.>
Anything you can share would be great!
<Get the
book, read the book, be the book, (OK don't be the book) but more
knowledge and less fish (in a 30-gallon) will make you more successful
in the long run.>
Thanks, Lori
<Welcome! Mich>
Lori Brawner
Hopefully better pictures of strange creatures. 3/8/07
<Hi Faye, Mich with you again.>
I tried sending some photos the
other day of some mystery creature but the picture were rubbish
<Yep!> so I've sent some more which are slightly bigger and a bit
clearer,
<Better, wish they were in a little better focus.>
the one that's bothering me is the strange little pyramid shaped
creatures which have started to move around my live rock. I have no
idea what they are, one of them is climbing up a bit of algae at the
moment.
<Is it climbing the algae or vice-versa?>
They are
very strange.
<I thought you might have a couple of tunicates on
your hands but my understanding is that these are sessile, non
motile, creatures. So my best guess would be tunicate, but it may
be incorrect. A tunicate will have two siphon holes. Do have a
look here and the links in blue: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ascidians.htm
and see what you think.>
The other thing to be hopefully
identified is some orange polyps with black centres, they look nice
but you never can tell!
<I believe, again I wish the photo was a
bit more clear, that these are a feather dusters of some sort, as
they appear to have tubes from which they extend. Do they retract
when touched? If so, most likely tis a cluster of feather
dusters. More here and links in blue: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/feather.htm
>
By the way, your site is great I've found loads of
information!
<Thank you! Is good to hear.>
Thanks in
advance
<You're welcome! -Mich>
Faye |
Re: Hopefully better pictures of strange creatures. –
03/09/07
<Hi Faye, Mich with you.>
Oh well its a
mystery, I'll have to borrow my friends camera and see if I can
get better pictures with that,
<See if the camera has a
macro setting, may have a button that looks like a flower, if so
use that, you may get clearer pictures.>
the polyps are
sending runners so I don't think they are tubeworms and they
don’t retract when touched.
<If they don't retract, then
likely not tube worms.>
As for the pyramid things they're
too small to see any detail other than their basic shape and
color, I can't even tell how they are moving I just know they
move about very slowly. The one that was climbing up the algae
stalk climbed to the top (about 4mm) in about 5 minutes, so
they're pretty slow!
<But definite motile, so unlikely
tunicates.>
Cheers anyway
Faye
<Sorry I couldn't be
more help. Hopefully better next time! -Mich> | 
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Marine Creature ID - 3/7/07
First of all, thank you so much for
the great sight that you have set up. I have learned almost everything
i know about saltwater reef aquarium keeping from this site Keep up the
good work!
<Will try>
I have noticed hundreds of tiny white
things all over the glass in my 75g saltwater tank. What are they???
<Look like little polychaete worms... likely Serpulids>
They are
about the size of a pin head. Are they OK for my tank? Do i need to
get rid of them? How?
<No problem, no>
Any help would be
greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time!
Sincerely,
Lee
<Enjoy them... they'll likely pass in time... Bob Fenner> | 
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Copepod Size Worm?? 3/6/07
I have a friend telling me I have zoo
eating nudi.s, next he's telling me I got flatworms. I see neither just
some copepod sized worms in my frag tank thriving on the glass under
T5HO lighting. There's only a couple in the main tank but I think they
get eaten up so am not too concerned about it. I figure you guys might
want to add this pic to your wonderful collection, had to use a
magnifying glass....I haven't seen any of these worms on corals or live
rock, just on the glass.
<Pic not real clear, but looks to me like
some are indeed copepods, and a few others, tunicates. Nothing to worry
about here.
James (Salty Dog)>
Mark | 
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Tunicate Invasion 3/5/07
Hello:
<Hi.>
You have been very
kind in the past in answering my questions and I hope you can help me
with this one. Not long after I transferred my very healthy Dwarf Zebra
Lionfish from to my 55 gallon display tank, I began to notice white
specks on the glass and ornaments. They were accompanied by the things
in the photos attached to this email. They look like some kind of
parasite but they are not affecting the fish at all. They are though
making my tank look terrible as you can see. I keep the water and gravel
very clean and I also scrape the glass but these things return.
The
tank has been up for five years and I never saw these things UNTIL I put
the Lion in there. What are they and how do I get rid of them? As
always, any help is very much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
<These are tunicates, are not directly harmful/parasitic at all. Please
see WWM re: for more detail about them. an overabundance may indicate
an underlying nutrient issue though.>
Robert Sabbia
<Adam J.> |  Mmmm,
no. Are Syconoid sponges. RMF
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Invert ID Zoanthids <Maybe a Chlorophyte> and Euryalid 02/17/07
Dear Mr. Fenner,
<Hi Laurie, Mich here.>
I hope I am not going
to crash your server again!
<Nope! Not this time!>
I have
resized the pictures of the inverts. I hope you can id them for me!
<Will try, the photo are quite blurry. The Macro setting on your camera
(symbol often looks like a flower) might help for future reference.>
I do not know if you have received the text--so, I'll write everything
again.
<Actually saved the text before deleting the overwhelmingly
large photos. Included the original text at the end of this message.>
The group of green tubes began to grow around November in my classroom
12 gal. tank. The largest is about 1 inch long with a diameter of about
1/16 of an inch. The tubes are turning white at the base and appear to
have fine white "hairs" on them. There appears to me a mouth also at the
end of the tube (I can see a dark green slit), although I have never
seen the mouth open. See photo of green tubes.
<I believe the photo
shows a zoanthid colony. Please read more here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/zoanthid.htm
><<This looks like the Green Algae, Neomeris sp. to me. RMF>>
The
second photo was taken of my gorgonian in my 55 gallon home tank. The
creature has been attached to the gorgonian since I bought the gorgonian
and is growing fast. Its "arms" move, but it appears to stay in the same
place daily...a possible Euryalid?!
<Could be, hard to tell by the
photo but the description and the behavior would fit. RMF any
comment?><<Maybe>>
Thank you for your help!
<Welcome! -Mich>
Laurie Price
<Mmm, Laurie... the pix aren't here... are you sure you
attached them? Please cc yourself (to make sure they're getting through)
and re-send. BobF>
<Original text below.>
I have (possibly) two
different types of inverts that I cannot id. myself. One type is in my
classroom's 12 gallon nano tank. There are about 7-8 of them. They began
growing last November. They are not about 1 inch long with a diameter of
about 1/16 of an inch. They appear to have white "hairs/fuzz" on their
bodies. See photo of lime green tubes. The other creature is on my
gorgonian in my 55 gallon tank at home. It, too, is growing. It has
maroon skin and several arms. The arms have cream colored "feathery"
branches coming out of them. See photo of purple gorgonian. Thanks for
your help!
Laurie Price, NPHS |
Re: Invert ID Zoanthids and Euryalid follow-up - 02/21/07
Thank you!
Laurie Price
<Hi Laurie, Mich here again. You
are welcome though I don't know if you saw the correction on our
FAQ's page made by RMF. I sorry, but I believe I answered your
question incorrectly. I thought you were referring to what looked
like zoanthids toward the back of the photo you sent, but rereading
your question I think RMF is correct and you were referring to the
algae toward the front of the photo. The lime green tubes are
called Fuzzy Tip Algae or Spindleweed (Neomeris). Nothing to be
concerned about and is a pretty addition.
Hope that helps,
Mich> |  
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Sea Slug, Flatworm, Something Else? The Latter, ID Stomatella Snail.
2/14/07
Hello,
<Hi there! Mich here.>
First, since I'm
sure you don't hear this EVER (hah), I LOVE YOUR WEBSITE!
<Thank
you! Yes we do hear this occasionally.>
I was looking on your
website and possibly found something that I
have in my tank. I saw
some white clouds squirting out from one of my live rocks the other day
and then I saw a creature through the hole where the clouds were coming
from. Its size is somewhere between a quarter and a half dollar. It is
grayish, relatively opaque. It almost looks like a slug or a snail
without the shell.
<Actually, there most likely is a shell, but it
is quite a bit smaller than the actually snail. I saw your prior
gigantic photos. I believe you have a Stomatella snail reproducing in
your tank. A wonderful addition that is often self-sustaining. Once
your population is established share them with your fishy friends.>
I read on your site that this could be a type of flatworm and that the
white clouds could be toxic?!? I guess, what do I do?
<No worries
here my friend.>
My rocks have been in my tank (55 gallons) since
the summer and my fish (2 clown fish) and snails have been in there
since November, so it's still relatively new. I do not have any corals,
clams, or anemones yet. So, if the first time I saw it was 3 days ago,
then how did it get there?
Hitchhiker on the live rock probably
there for quite sometime before you noticed it.>
Do I have any more?
<Hopefully!>
I guess, would you please send me any information about
this creature? I honestly thought it was a sea slug, but now reading
that it could be a flatworm, I'm nervous.
<No cause for alarm.>
I tried e-mailing you the other day with a picture of it attached,
but I got a response saying it was too large of a picture so my e-
mail was deleted. I do not know how to make the picture smaller, or
check the size of it (I have an Apple iBook G4, in case that matters at
all).
<I have a newly acquired MacBook that I too am learning
about. I believe when you go to attach the photo if you scroll down
under the photo on the right hand side you can choose the size as
actual, large, medium or small. Choose medium or small. Hope that
helps. -Mich> |
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Re: Sea Slug, Flatworm, Something Else? The Latter, ID Stomatella
Snail. Part 2 2/14/07
Hello,
<Hi there! Mich with you
again.>
I just sent you info about my possible flatworm or something
that is squirting out white clouds into my water.
<Yep, got it.>
I was having trouble attaching a picture that wasn't huge. I think I
figured out how to make it smaller. It is now 112K and I can't get it
any smaller without cutting into the actual creature. Sorry for any
confusion.
<No worries!>
This picture is attached below.
<Got it!>
It's kind of gross looking!
<Might not be pretty, but
is beneficial. A lucky addition! -Mich> |
Re:
Sea Slug, Flatworm, Something Else? The Latter, ID Stomatella Snail
- 02/15/07
<Hello, Mich with you again.>
Oh my gosh! I am so
excited now!
<Excellent!>
As a beginner, I was seriously losing
sleep these past couple days worrying it was a toxic flatworm.
<No worries my friend!>
So, I do not need to do anything special to
this snail, it'll just survive on it's own with the algae that is
naturally growing in my tank?
<Hopefully!>
I Googled that type
of snail and one website said that it lets its sperm or eggs into the
water and it'll turn the water milky for a short while. Would that
explain the white clouds that it was squirting out?
<Exactly!>
Is it safe to assume that I have more than one in there?
<Most
likely.>
I'm really excited! It's not so gross anymore, snails are
cute, haha.
<Hehehe!>
Thank you so much for your help!
<You're very welcome! -Mich>
Sarah
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