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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, & 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.> |
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 Mmmm,
no. Are Syconoid sponges. RMF |
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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