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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification
32 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 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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Unknown Red Branching Filament in Refugium... Crystalline entity?
2/19/08
Hi Crew,
<Kevin>
I have a 29 gallon BioCube that
has been setup for about 6 months.
About 5 weeks ago I added a 5.5
gallon refugium with 1.5" of mineral mud and an orange sized ball of
Chaeto (sp). Lighting is a Corallife mini with 2-9w daylights.
Just
recently, I noticed several small red filament type organisms on the
substrate. They appear to be a bright red filament, about 3/8 of an inch
long.
A few of these guys have since moved onto the glass and have
begun to generate multiple branches.
Distinguishing features: Bright
red, they can move, they have begun "branching"
I looked through the
FAQ's for a few days and cannot find anything that resembles these
things.
Any thoughts?
<... is there a definite "head" region? Any
processes on it? Legs, definite body segmentation? Really need close-up,
well-resolved images... Bob Fenner>
Identification 2/16/08
Hey Guys,
<Hi>
Two quick
identification questions for you...I bought some Live Fiji Rock and
got some new critters with it over the course of the month and a
half and not really sure what they are and if they are bad.... the
first picture is of a white organism about the size of a small grape
growing out from underneath my Ricordea. I think its attached to the
piece of something that the Ricordea originally came on. It has a
bunch of small white bumps and is semi-hard with a crown of hairlike
tendrils that appear kind of like fiber optic wire..:) I noticed
another small one growing somewhere else...any idea? Second pic is
of a red calcareous worm I think, that is growing to the left next
to my zoanthids. I couldn't get my camera to take a clear shot so I
had to focus on the Ricordea...there is a semi-white one growing on
the right side of the pic. Are they bad? The red one is stopping the
zoanthid from opening very much but I don't think I could move the
worm or zoanthid so any idea what I should do?
Thanks for all
your help! Josh
<Thanks for the pictures. One note on them first
- they're a little big. Please try and reduce in size next time as
we only have limited storage on the mail system. Now then, onto the
pics. The first animal next to your Ricordea is a Sycon sponge. A
normally occurring sponge in the home aquarium. Nothing to worry
about at all. The second image isn't too good for ID purposes, and
I'm afraid I can't make anything useful from it. From your
description, it could be a Spirorbis, or Serpulid worm. If so,
again, nothing to worry about - your Zoanthid shouldn't be much
bothered by it either. Perhaps have a look here, and then the linked
indices http://www.wetwebmedia.com/featheridfaqs.htm Hope that
helps, Mike I> |  |
Unknown critter -02/08/08
Hi,
I want to thank you for all
of the great advice that you give, you have been right on with
everything I¹ve ever asked, and I greatly appreciate it.
Recently
I have found a new animal in my 45 gallon reef tank. The tank has
been set up for about a year, and noticed it about a month ago. It
is a nearly flat disc shaped animal, thicker in the center but not
by much, that is dark maroon in color with a white stripe (at first
I thought the strip was a mouth, now I¹m not sure) on top. It moves
slowly all over the live rock, and sometimes it lifts its edges. In
the attached picture you will see it in the center (the dark spot on
the rock). I think it¹s a pretty neat critter, and I would love to
know what it is. I don¹t have any reason to think it¹s harmful. But
I would like to know just to be sure.
Thank you, and keep up the
good work,
<Lucky you! It's a Scutus. I love these guys! They're
harmless algae grazers. Enjoy. :-)
http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=scutus
Note: I've
linked you to the slug forum, but these are actually snails, not
slugs. They are often mistaken for slugs because their shells are
usually mostly hidden.>
Joseph
<Best,
Sara M.> | 
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Mystery Marine Eggs, Likely Snails – 1/29/08
Hi everyone,
<Hi
Rochelle.>
Have some mystery eggs here I hope you can tell me what
they are. No one is guarding them or tending to them (so far, it’s been
3 hours) so I am unable to figure it out. Here are the possibilities… I
have … 3 Percula clownfish, (but when I looked up their eggs, it showed
them yellow then turning to orange/red as they develop) I was rather
hoping they were clownfish. I have 2 mated 3 strip damsels, BUT.. the
male is currently tending to his own eggs on the opposite side of the
tank, so that can’t be it.
<Correct. Neither of these species
lay/deposit eggs in strands.>
1 magenta dotty back, she has her own
private cave. If they were hers you’d think she would’ve laid them in
there, not on a rock outside. 1 Hawkfish, I think he’s a male and
wouldn’t have laid eggs out in the open if he was female. 1 chromis
damsel, 1 mandarin goby, 1 clown goby and some pink foot snails. I don’t
think it was the snails, they weren’t in the area at the time the eggs
“appeared”.
<Heeee! They’re sneaky that way. I don’t know what
species the “pink foot snail” is, but that egg strand looks like it came
from either a snail or Nudibranch of some sort.>
I do have some
crabs, blue legs, a sally and a hermit, but that can’t be right, crabs
don’t lay eggs like that do they?
<No, they don’t.>
When I looked
up the different fish I have, and what their eggs look like, my eggs
don’t look like any of them. So do you think they are clownfish?
<Alas, no. It's more than likely a "snail trail".>
If so I’d like to
move them to my nursery tank (already to go with micro food stuffs). If
you think they belong to any other fish I’ll leave them be. Due to them
not having a mate to fertilize them.
<That's how I'd handle these -
leave them and let “nature” take its course.>
Thanks in advance,
Rochelle
<You're very welcome. Take care. -Lynn> | 
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Cucumber?-01/29/2008
Hi guys! Can you help with an ID? This looks
like a cucumber growing from the skeleton on my neon green candy. Am I
correct?
<Does it move? It looks like a sponge or possibly even some
kind of soft coral. But it's hard to tell from the pic. Does it change
at night? (i.e. open up at all?)>
Thanks,
Geno
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p151/gdevine_photo/DSC00056.jpg
<De nada,
Sara M.>
Re: Cucumber? 1/29/08
Hi Sara - Thanks for the quick response.
After some thought, it can't be a cucumber because it doesn't move. It
may be a sponge, that's my original thought but it's growing from both
ends and the lights from my HO T5's don't bother it; and most sponges
don't like light intense light from what I understand.
<It depends on
the sponge. Some are "indifferent" to light. And some change color
depending on the kind of light they are under. I have some bright yellow
sponge that apparently doesn't mind light at all (it has growing merrily
directly under a 250w MH light for years now). So, again, it just
depends on the sponge.>
I've not seen any changes at night but I'll
check it out later tonight again and see if it changes. I feed my Sun
Cups DT's and freeze dried Cyclops each night target feeding and nothing
opens up even with all these nutrients floating around...
<If it's a
sponge, it is likely appreciating the DT's. :-)>
I think you're
right, it's some form of a soft coral...
<Could be... those white
dots look like they could be closed polyps.>
got to love the mystery
of this hobby!
<Yep>
Thanks again!
Geno
<De nada,
Sara
M.> | 
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Help with gunk in my reef! - 1/24/08
Hi Bob (and crew): It's been
along time since I've emailed for help, but I thought you'd be the ones
to ask! I have this grayish white gunk growing all over my live rock and
some threatening to grow over some corals I have, but I try and siphon
it out when possible. It's very unsightly and even grows on the glass,
looks like small white/clear filaments. I've attached a photo and link
to a video I took, I'm hoping you could help out. My tank parameters
are: Temp 78.5SG 1.025Mg 1280Ca 320 (I've struggled to get this higher
than 380)KH 9ph 8.3phosphates 0
Videohttp://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v121/cgoldens/Fish/ID%20File/?action=view¤t=gunk002.flv
Picture attached. Thanks in advance!
<Mmm, looks like some sort of
mix of sponges, algae... perhaps decomposers... You need more
circulation, perhaps other means to raise RedOx... I'd be reading re
algae control for input here...:
http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/maintenance/index.htm
Scroll down to a
lower tray. BobF>Re: help
with gunk in my reef! - 1/24/08
I think it might be Dinos, am I
off base?
<Yep>
btw, I have a 180G in wall setup, powered by a
3600 gph sequence dart, I wasn't sure flow was an issue. I just added a
1200gph Koralia pump 2 days ago for more movement.
Thanks!
Chris
<Keep reading. B> | 
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Strange White Things: Syconoid sponges – 1/19/08
<Hi there>
Do
you guys know what that white thing is? I have a few of those in my
tank.
<They’re harmless, filter feeding sponges in the genus Sycon,
also called Syconoid sponges. For more information/photos, please see
the FAQ's at this link (and related links above):
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/spgidf7.htm .
Take care -Lynn> | 
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Worm? Nope, Ophiuroid! 1/19/08
Hi Crew at WetWebMedia!
<Hi
Trina!>
First, thank you for this invaluable resource. Our first
marine tank is off to a wonderful, successful start (at least, we think
so).
<Terrific!>
Most of the things we've had questions about we
were able to ID using your site, however, this particular thing has us
confused. I thought it was a hair worm, but the pics of them that I've
seen, they appear smooth and these are segmented. There are two
different rocks that have one spot of 4 antennae each. It is segmented
with alternating segments having dark spots on them, plus, one antennae
seems to have two parts - a main tube and then another skinnier antennae
coming out of it. In the pic, the thickest tube is third from the left
of the picture. The things get longer at night and responds to touch but
never leaves its location.
<Typical for these guys.>
Set-up: 48
gallon bow-front tank, Eheim Ecco 2236 canister filter, Coralife super
skimmer, 1 AquaClear50 powerhead, 2 Rio90 powerheads, ~50 pounds live
rock, 3" DSB(live),
<Bare minimum for a DSB.>
Hydor in-line
heater, Coralife Aqualight 2X96watts. The tank is 4 months old and is
running really well and consistent.
<Very good.>
Living stuff: 2
ocellaris (we think) clowns, 1 royal Gramma, small pink leather coral,
purple/brown zoanthid, purple/neon green xenia, purple mushroom polyp,
many snails of many types, several clumps of Halimeda, and a bunch of
tubular calcareous sponges that developed recently.
<Likely Syconoid
sponges. Please Google “Sycon” or “Syconoid” at WWM for comparison/more
information: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Googlesearch.htm>
Finally, is
this a safe creature or bad creature? Either way, it gives me nightmares
: ) Sorry the pic is fuzzy, I had to take it zoomed in a whole lot.
<Heeeee! No need for nightmares, and the picture is just fine. These are
harmless/beneficial little Ophiuroids (Brittlestars) - likely one of the
“mini” varieties that hitchhike in with live rock. What you’re seeing
are their little arms waving about in the current in hopes of catching a
bit of food floating by. For more information, please Google “mini
brittlestar” at the above link. Here’s a link to get you started:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brittlestaridfaqs.htm .>
Thanks!
Trina
<You’re very welcome! Take care –Lynn> | 
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Identity... of... 1/14/08
Dear Crew,
<Hi Ann, Mich here.>
I would like to thank you for your time and expertise.
<I would like
to apologize for my very tardy reply.>
I have sent two attachments of
some live rock in my 55 gallon.
<I see.>
My tank contains one
Ocellaris Clownfish, a "Flower Anemone", a large feather duster, and a
dozen blue-legged hermit crabs. It used to have a flame scallop in it.
<Flame scallops don't do well in captivity. I would avoid.>
Getting
to the point of the pictures. I would like some help on identifying some
new inhabitants. I have 1/4" tubular growths that are spreading like
wildfire across my tank. Like always they are hard to rid of.
<They
are Syconoid sponges, beneficial filter feeders, their populations
usually wax and wane.>
The second picture is of my so-called " Flower
Anemone".
<Does not look like a flower anemone to me.>
My LFS
doesn't usually have scientific names available. I did some research,
but I am suspecting this is not a Flower Anemone.
<I would agree.>
I have a feeling it is something else. I'm just looking for some
scientific names to start my research on it.
<I asked Brenda Furtak
our anemone expert to take a look, she thought it was either a BTA or E.
Quadricolor.>
Any help is greatly appreciated. I am extremely sorry
for the quality of the pictures.
<Not always easy to get the pics
you want when the subject lives in an aquarium.>
I hope I did
everything right, I fear the rath <wrath> of the WWM crew.
<Nothing
to fear here… yes, Bob can be bit cantankerous at times, but think about
how you’d feel when you’ve devoted much of your life to improving the
lives of others and how frustrated you’d feel when folks won’t help
themselves.>
Happy New Year,
<And to you and yours. Mich>
Ann |  
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White spots... Alcyonacean hlth., reading 1/14/08
Hello...again.
<Matt>
Could you possible identify two items for
me? First on my live rock, round circular spots have started to form. It
has been a week and one or two form each day. I do not believe they are
eggs, but am unsure.
<Need a more highly resolved, closer up pic...
could be algae, forams... maybe Spirorbids...>
Second, my leather
coral is developing white "marks" as well. I thought this to bleaching,
but again I am unsure. I will admit that my calcium was a bit high
(500ppm),
<This is more than a bit...>
but I did a water change
and it is back in line (right at 400ppm). PH 8.2, Alk 2.5,
<A bit
low...>
temp 78, almost undetectable nitrites and 0ppm phosphates.
<All life needs some phosphate>
If you have any thoughts, I am always
willing to listen.
<And hopefully to read>
As always , thanks!
M
<Start here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/index.htm
Scroll down to Soft Corals, Health, Systems, more definitively for
Alcyoniids... BobF>
Re: White spots 1/14/08
Bob,
Thanks for the reply!
Wanted to let you know I purchased the books you recommend on corals! It
is a great reference.
I believe I identified the small white spots
appearing randomly in my tank. I recently(two weeks ago) added 2 Nerite
Snails to the tank. I believe the spots which look like sesame seeds to
be their eggs. I have seen pictures online and they look just like them.
Could this be possible?
<Ah, yes. Certainly>
Thanks!
M
<Welcome. B>
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