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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, Non-Vert ID 43, Non-Vert ID 44, Non-Vert ID 45, Non-Vert ID 46, Non-Vert ID 47, Non-Vert ID 48, Non-Vert ID 49, Non-Vert ID 50, Non-Vert ID 51, Non-Vert ID 52, Non-Vert ID 53, Non-Vert ID 54, Non-Vert ID 55, Non-Vert ID 56, Non-Vert ID 57, Non-Vert ID 58, Non-Vert ID 59, Non-Vert ID 60, Non-Vert ID 61, & 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 IdentificationLR 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 

Unknown Appeared on LR 11/06/08 Hi WWM crew, Ted K here and I've spent hours searching the sight to identify this cocoon looking stuff 2 white and 1 pinkish with little holes in them? LOL The problem is I get caught in all the other info on the sight while searching. <Hehe! Happens to me too!> I hope I shrunk the picks down enough. I have been battling water issues with quality and my Yellow Tang has survived Thanks to Bob F. <cool> Even If you can tell me whether they are good or bad would be great? <I do believe they are both sponges. They are generally a good thing.> Thanks Ted K.
<De nada,
Sara M.>

Limpet?  11/07/08 Hi Crew, quick one. Is this a limpet...seems I have had a population explosion of these in my refugium. Reef safe? <Yes, looks like limpet to me. Don't worry too much about the population explosion, these reef critters tend to "boom and bust"-- they are generally reef safe, and in any event their population should die down in time.> Thanks so much. Regards
<Best,
Sara M.>

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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