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FAQs about Sea Squirts Identification 5  

Related Articles: Sea Squirts/Tunicates/Ascidians,

Related FAQs: Ascidian/Sea Squirt ID 1, Sea Squirt ID 2, Sea Squirt ID 3, Sea Squirt ID 4, Sea Squirt ID 6, Sea Squirt ID 7, Sea Squirt ID 8, & Ascidians 1, Ascidians 2, Ascidian Behavior, Ascidian Compatibility, Ascidian Selection, Ascidian Systems, Ascidian Feeding, Ascidian Disease, Ascidian Reproduction,

 

Tank thing     3/11/15
Hi folks
<Howsit Aly?>
Can you help me to identify this little tubular thing growing in my marine tank please? It seems to have lots of teeth inside and has 2 openings.
Many thanks
Aly
<Mmm; yes; thanks to your sending a few pix. Am pretty sure these are Ascidians; Sea Squirts. Not harmful; in fact indicative of good conditions and care on your part. Bob Fenner>

Re: Tank thing     3/11/15
Oh, thanks Bob. I love my fishy family so that gives me peace of mind now.
Much appreciated.
Ta ta for now.
Aly
<Cheers; BobF>

Help with identification please...       2/6/15
I was referred to you by an individual on Facebook. Said that you could help ID the new overnight arrivals emerging from the substrate in my tank. There are 15 by my count and all uniform in shape and size. I am  assuming
something is procreating, but what? I have also attached a short video.
<Mov linked HERE>
Any
help would be greatly appreciated, thanks![image: Inline image 1],
<Sorry my vision is a bit blurry from driving on the road for hours today, but these look like Ascidians, Sea Squirts... Not harmful. Bob Fenner>

Could you all please I.D.      1/1/15
Any clue? I've asked around, yet nobody seems to know.
<Mmm; would like a bigger, better resolved pic... My initial guess is that this is a juvenile Tunicate, a larval Ascidian of some kind/species.
Bob Fenner>

Need ID... Asc's? Snail eggs?        12/31/14
Hi again, Bob and crew,
Can you tell me what these clusters are under the toadstool? They do not move. Thank you.
Jan
<Ah, yes; and what a delight! These appear to be Ascidians; Sea Squirt colonies. Not harmful; indeed indicative of good conditions in your system. Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Unknown invert     4/21/14
Can you advise what these may be? They are soft and have grown to about a half an inch in size. Ask me what you need to know so i can resolve whether to remove or be proud of my unknown growth.
Thanks
Jeff
<Look to be colonial Ascidians; Sea Squirts. Not problematical. See WWM re.
Bob Fenner>



White clear pod growing in the reef of our salt water tank     4/14/14
Not sure what this is...any ideas? Its about the size of a Quarter.
Thanks Ruth
<Likely either an Ascidian (Sea Squirt)... or a sponge. Not harmful in either case... indeed, indicative of good conditions in your system. Bob Fenner>

Re: White clear pod growing in the reef of our salt water tank     4/14/14
thank you so much for the reply....and so quickly! Used to any answer at all being at least 2 days away, if at all. You are amazing!
I have read so much on your site...just couldn't find that answer...this is so new to me that I am not even wet behind the ears. LOL It's a lot of fun, I have a Banggai Cardinal that is holding eggs and am hoping to raise them up to be great swimmers.
<Ahh!>
Thanks Again
Ruth
<Welcome. BobF>

Identification help?  Tadpole larvae 2/2/14
I have this posted at nano-reef.com, you folks were suggested as  resource.
Any help identifying what these are?
<Any chance of a close-up pic? My present guess is that these are salps>
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/340619-tiny-pink-swimming-things-lots-of-em-overnight-after-adding-cuc
I have a 3 week old reef tank (Nanocube 28g) in the final stages of cycling.
I have no corals, just 3 Chromis, and a clean up crew.

Re: Identification help? Salp guess    2/2/14
I just received this blank message. Was there supposed to be a message?
<Bizarre... Do you see the response below? BobF>
RE: Identification help?   2/2/14

Right... will leave out the carats <<>>... Salps is my best guess. Bob Fenner
Oh, I see, your comment was below mine. I was looking between the headers.
I see the answers in between "<" and ">". That was the closest image I could manage with my equipment. They are no longer present, were there in a cloud, and were gone in 45 minutes or so, when I wasn't watching.
Here are links to the full size, unmodified 16 megapixel images I took.
They really don't look like salps, based on a Google image search. Each of these are 7MB images.
www.exile-guild.com/eolithics/images/aquarium/unidentified/PinkThings/IMG_4888.JPG 
www.exile-guild.com/eolithics/images/aquarium/unidentified/PinkThings/IMG_4889.JPG 
www.exile-guild.com/eolithics/images/aquarium/unidentified/PinkThings/IMG_4890.JPG
www.exile-guild.com/eolithics/images/aquarium/unidentified/PinkThings/IMG_4892.JPG 
www.exile-guild.com/eolithics/images/aquarium/unidentified/PinkThings/IMG_4893.JPG

Small, swimming organism ID       11/1/13
Hey guys!  Thanks for all you do, I'd be lost without your site and advice!!  I have a local aquarist who took the attached picture of his tank and posted to our local Reef Club's Facebook page.  I'd thought I'd get your opinion since no one is able to offer an idea.  According to him, there are small round to oblong purple tinted organisms swimming in the water column.  They have a small dot in the middle and flagella like tail and are very tiny.  There are definitely free swimming.  He has said he has no pairs of anything, so likely not fry of any kind, although he had a recent amount of macroalgae that could have held hitchhikers.  Is this some sort of pod or anything else you might recognize?  Thanks again for you help and for all you do to assist people to find their way!
Sincerely,
Scott
<Well, I have only myself to 'blame' for so-often complaining of folks sending in too-large file sizes... Scott, would you have this aquarist send us a bit larger pic or two? And describe the motion, jerky, fast? I can't make much out of this pic. Bob Fenner>

crop
Re: Small, swimming organism ID   11/1/13
Lol... I think I've been accused of too large pictures myself before!
<Oops!>
  I tried to "blow up" the picture as best I could.  I see two small purple organisms on this picture, on to the right and one to the left (in front of the algae/plant).  If you still can't ID from this, I'll attempt to contact him and see if I can get a better description and/or picture.  Thanks for your effort!!
Scott
<I tried this as well... already posted on WWM's dailies. Have sent off to LynnZ for her better input. B>
Re: Small, swimming organism ID   11/1/13

Thanks Bob - see below in <<...>>.  I went ahead and sent a response to Scott through the crew mail.  Hopefully, the ID is on the mark! Take care - Lynn
>Wowzah! B<
Re: Re: Small, swimming organism ID:  11-1-13

Lol... I think I've been accused of too large pictures myself before!
<Oops!>
I tried to "blow up" the picture as best I could.  I see two small purple organisms on this picture, on to the right and one to the left (in front of the algae/plant).  If you still can't ID from this, I'll attempt to contact him and see if I can get a better description and/or picture.  Thanks for your effort!!
Scott
<I tried this as well... already posted on WWM's dailies. Have sent off to LynnZ for her better input. B>
<<Thanks Bob, and hello Scott!  My first thought when I saw these little creatures was that they reminded me of tiny tadpoles.  I ended up looking through all sorts of planktonic larval forms and the closest thing I could find (given the available general shape only) was the larval form of an Ascidian/tunicate.  Apparently, the nickname for them is the “tadpole larvae” – go figure!  I really didn’t think that this stage would/could be large enough to be that visible, but apparently (depending on the species) some are (e.g., Botrylloides violaceus: >2mm long).  At any rate, they don’t appear to be anything worrisome as they are non-feeding and don’t remain in the water column for very long (typically from a few minutes/hours, no more than a day) before they settle, attach, and begin to metamorphose.  Please see the following links for comparison/more info:
http://invert-embryo.blogspot.com/2013/06/ascidian-tadpole-larvae-settlement-and_6.html 
http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/TUNICATE/tuniSett.php 
If that doesn’t appear to be the correct organism, do see about sending a bit more info and a new photo or two and we’ll give it another try! Take care, Lynn Z>>
Re: Small, swimming organism ID:  11-1-13
Whoa, now that's something you don't run across every day!
Hopefully, we'll be able to get a few more details from a photo or two, plus more descriptive info.  In the meantime, I'll do a bit of research - at this point, I know more about what it isn't than what it is.  Take care
- Lynn
>Thank you Lynn. BobF<
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