|
Home | Marine Aquariums |
Freshwater Aquariums |
Planted Aquariums |
Brackish Systems |
Ponds,
lakes & fountains |
Turtles & Amphibians |
Aquatic Business |
Aquatic Science |
Ask the WWM Crew a Question |
Please visit our Sponsors | ||||
Sea Cucumber 2/9/06 I have had this cucumber for about two years now and am unable to locate an identification of it. It is doing fine and does a great job of keeping my sandbed as well as the rocks cleaned of all detritus, Am just wishing to call it something other than "that green one". I realize cucumber identification is very easily done, thanks for any help possible. This specimen was collected by myself here in the Philippines. <Charles, I've looked through whatever pics we have on our site and other sites and can't find a match. There are about 900 species of cucumbers and you may have to Google for a while to find it. We just don't have the time to do this. I do believe it is a member of the Holothuria genus, may help narrow your search parameters down. James (Salty Dog)> Charles Raabe TWA Sea cucumber ID Hello <Hi there> I know that I definitely have several sea cucumbers, but haven't been able to locate the species. I live in the Bahamas and harvested them from a tidal area under some rocks. The cucumbers are a light grayish brown with little nodules al over the skin. They are quite active at night and during the day hide in the base of my live rock. I use a mixture of sands in my reef tank and them seem to rotate between digging in the sand and "surfing the live rock with their mouths. Can you please give me your best guess at to what species they are and whether or not they will be good for my tank long term. The seem to benefit as well when I feed invert smorgasbord from coral life. Regards, J. Andrew Thompson <Can't say off-hand by your description, but you might look on WWM re the group... and if it were me living and diving in the Bahamas I would definitely have a set of Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach's works on the identification of reef life there... Am sure their comb-bound guides include this Holothuroid. Bob Fenner>
Re: Sponge? Re: question on mobility of sponge / sea cucumber: they are stationary; I can't detect any motion at all. <Strange, but not unheard of... there are Holothuroids/cucumbers that are immobile... filter feeders> I looked closely at live rock in my reef, and can see about 25 more of these organisms, some very small. All are in areas shaded from my lights. Tank is about 6 months old, with ammonia, nitrite, phosphate all at zero and nitrate near zero. Calcium a bit low (I think) at 260. Same w/ 44 FOWLR tank, which has about 10 of these interesting guys. Hope I'm not seeing an outbreak of something harmful. Tentacles / processes don't seem to retract (at least during the day). Live rock is supposedly from Fiji. Jon <Not harmful likely... could be siphoned out if they bother you... and could be something else... sponges even! Examination under a low-power microscope, use of a decent reference work will disclose the phylum... Bob Fenner>
Re: Id please? Hi Crew! <Cheers!> I just purchased some more LR and this creature was a hitching a ride on it. I'm assuming it's a cucumber. <correct... a Holothuroid sea cucumber> Can you ID it? <not from this photo my friend. Have you seen it distend filter feeding appendages in to the water column to suggest that it could be a Cucumarid? Or instead bury them like a Holothurids?> Are these safe to be in a tank? <the later more than the former. Most all are fairly safe if protected from pump intakes like we do with anemones> From what little I've read in the past about Cukes is that one should be very careful/leery about housing one. <barely> Is that true? <overrated IMO> or they just stir the sand? <we need a better ID first> Thanks a million! Justaguy <best regards, Anthony> What is this?!!!! Cucumber? >Hi Crew, >>Greetings Jocelyn. Marina here this morning. >My name is Jocelyn. I am taking care of my husband's saltwater reef tank for him while he is deployed. I was watching the tank one night with its lights off to see if I could spot any nocturnal behavior. I had my face inches from the glass when this "thing" slid out of an opening in the reef. It's shaped somewhat like a worm, smooth surface and "fleshy" like a worm. It appears to be a gray color with a lighter bottom-side. It also had a couple of small rings around it. Its "mouth" looks a lot like that of an elephant's trunk. I couldn't see any tentacles, fibers or teeth inside. Just looked like a smooth opening. It appears to have the ability to stretch way out in length and also swell to about a little smaller than the radius of a pencil. When I flicked on the light, it quickly shriveled in size and retracted into the reef. Its mouth looks like it's vacuuming the reef. It doesn't crawl or slither. It acts more like one end of it is attached to the reef and the mouth end stretches out to wherever it wants to feed. Any clue what this might be? We've had the tank for over a year and NEVER seen this before!!! I've been all over Google and can't find anything. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. >>Well, it does sound something like what I've seen in Puerto Rico, the common name there for them is "Los Mojones" (means "The Turds" in Spanish), however, they are much less flexible in their activity. It could be a sea cucumber of some sort, is my guess. It is more than likely a detritus eater, and I would expect it to not be harmful at all to the system. If anyone else on the crew sees this, or another hobbyist who's seen it before, maybe we'll get lucky and they'll chime in. Best wishes to you and your husband, and safe return home (I'm sure you miss him like the dickens). Marina What is this?!!!! Cucumber? >Thank you for your help Marina. >>Quite welcome, Jocelyn. >I can't wait to tell my husband there's a "Turd" in his aquarium. Ha ha ha. I'll continue to watch for it and Its activities. Thanks Again!! >>Oh my God! LOL!!! He should love that, and so should his company, eh? Maybe a streaming video would be in order? All my best, Jocelyn. Marina Possible sea cucumber? I just returned from the Bahamas where
I did a little snorkeling. I saw something on the ocean floor (actually
I saw 2 of them) that looked like a gel-type snake. It was whitish or
sand colored and coiled up like a snake might be. <No marine snakes
in the tropical West Atlantic> It was at least as big around as my
wrist and looked like it was 4 - 6 ft long. The person I was with got
freaked out that it was a snake and wanted to go back to the boat so I
didn't get a chance to watch it for long. On the way back I saw
another one that was smaller, but also coiled up on the ocean floor. I
asked the boat captain (yacht, not dive) if he had ever seen anything
like that and he hadn't. I have snorkeled quite a few places and
never seen anything like that and have been searching the internet
today trying to determine what it was. Any ideas? Thank you, Mona
Cabler <Very likely was/were sea cucumbers. Please see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seacukes.htm Bob
Fenner> Found a strange "worm" thingy Hello! What is it??!! I've search a few of the FAQs and I can't seem to find the answer to my question... I don't want to say "it looks like a worm" because I don't know want to put the wrong picture in your head. (Since many people have different ideas as to what is a worm and what isn't). I'll try describing it. It's about a centimeter and a half long. It is brown on top with a dull yellowish underbelly, and one end is dull yellow. It's about half as thick as a pencil. And has small brown "knobs" on it that have a black dot on the tip. I've also seen a couple small, thin yellow arms on the side/bottom of it. I found something that looks like it here, kind of: http://library.thinkquest.org/J001418/seacuc.html But it doesn't have as many protrusions as that one... I can't tell which end is the head... Any help in the right direction would be great, thanks! Jason Thomas France >> <Hmm, well, it does sound like some sort of Sea Cucumber... and there are a bunch of types it might be... The important bit is that this animal is likely not deleterious... and so, unless it gets really big, or numerous... I would leave it be... and enjoy it! Bob Fenner> Identification question I took the attached photograph in about 15 feet of water off the coast of Dominica. The area would best be described as boulders/large rocks. I was at the end of the roll of film, so I decided to take the shot with a 20 mm lens (as opposed to a close-up shot), co the definition could be better. Any help with an identification would be appreciated - even just a nudge in the right direction. <Hmm, looks like the end of a Donkey Dung Sea Cucumber... Holothuria thomasi... there's a couple of pix of this species on our site: http://WetWebMedia.Com/seacukes.htm Bob Fenner> Thanks Shaun Critter ID I will try my best to describe it. First off, I have only seen it twice, both at night. It looks kind of like a huge snail, but has no shell. It is mostly flat and tear-drop shaped. About 1 inch to 2 inches long, maybe a little longer. It has antennae and little black dot eyes. It suctions up to the glass with its body and moves around quite quickly. It has a separate head and its little circular mouth sucks up to the glass and moves around like a vacuum cleaner very quickly. It is light-greenish brown in color. Like I said, it doesn't have a shell and is thin, but has kind of a curved back that looks to have darker sand or something on it - not sure. My concern is that it is pretty damn big and moves pretty quick. I would say it might be a snail without a shell, but I don't know, I have never seen one of those. Thanks for the help with the ID. <Mmm, curiouser... a separate head? Moves quickly... as in faster than "the average snail"? There are worm, mollusk groups that this stranger may be part of... rather than my fave guess group- sea Cukes. If it were up to me, I'd take some pix, show them about on the Net. Bob Fenner> Loch Ness Monster in my tank! Hi Bob, <Hello> I'm new to reef keeping and have found your site invaluable. I've made mistakes from my own lack of knowledge but I've also run into problems with misinformation from my LFS. I've decided your book goes with me to the store so I can look up any new critter before I bring it home. <Hmm, wouldn't it be great (or shall I ask, when will it be so?) to have the Worldwide Web available at the shops? With "bookmarked" sites, sources of information, opinions... like bulletin boards, chatrooms, specialty sites... to render, offer such input?> We've had a 46 gal tank with no coral set up for a month. It has 50 lbs of cured Fiji LR + couple pieces of cured Tonga, 40lbs of LS, 20 lbs of crushed coral substrate. I'm using a HOT Red sea Berlin skimmer with a FB 300 Lifeguard Fluidized sand bed filter, a CPR 12" AquaFuge, for circulation 2 AquaClear 301's, and one ZooMed PowerSweep 226. The system is lit with 144 watts. of power compacts. The water conditions are ph 8.1 nitrite .1 nitrate 5 ammonia 0-.1 Phosphates 3 <Three? Hopefully 0.3 ppm... Three is too high... as you likely are aware> Tank is stocked with 4 peppermint shrimp 20 blue legged hermit crabs 1 sandsifting starfish 1. 2" mandarin (He is fat and happy-I take extra special care of feeding him after reading on your site!) 1. 3"-4" Midnight Tomato Clown-am taking him back to LFS-hides all the time and picks on other fish-lesson learned on purchasing too mature of a fish <You are correct> 1. 2 1/2" Yellow tailed damsel 1. Purple tipped bubble anemone-I read you don't prefer this but was told it would help clown-who's scared of it- and was supposed to be easy first anemone. 1. purple Nudibranch We purchased 2 pieces of what was supposed to be Cured Tonga LR. We have two identical, unidentifiable creatures. They're scary! The one we've battled with is approx. 6" long, 3/8 to1/2" in width. We thought it looked like a snail or slug but it's surface is hard. It has no apparent eyes or head or tail. It's grayish, tanish and has small nubs or spikes along its outside edge. It also has black elliptical patches that run down its back in the center. It's twisted around in the LR and it comes out of its hole at night. It is flat like but thick when it's out. It moves slowly almost like the Nudibranch. But when we tried to pull it out with plastic tweezers we discovered that its back is shell-like and hard. It is very strong. My 6'3 and 210 lb. fiancĂ©©? couldn't pull it out or even squeeze it. The tweezers slipped off and left a small scratch on the casing. <Take care not to pull too hard, break this organism... more trouble than leaving it be... Likely some sort of sea cucumber... as its hardness points> Now, you ask, "Why haven't you moved the LR to remove the creature?" Our purple tipped anemone has just attached to the LR. So the questions are... What is it? Is it bad? Can we move the anemone and take LR out? How do we get creature once out of tank without killing everything on LR? <Perhaps try offering different foods toward night time... away from the live rock it's typically associated with... to lure it out for removal.> One more quick question for my reef life line. Are my skimmer, filter, and refugium too much weight hanging on the back of my tank? <Good question. Should be fine... the compression strength of glass, acrylic are tremendous.> Thank you so much for your website. We spend hours reading it. We've found your site informative and entertaining. Your regard for the ethics of the hobby are inspiring. Thank you for this much needed service. <Thank you for your kind words. Life to you. Bob Fenner> Barb and Justin. See attachment for sketch of creature. Tried to photograph and couldn't. Have never seen creature totally out of the LR. << lochness.PCX >> <What a crack-up! Still am sticking with my Holothuroid guess. Be chatting. Bob F> Cucumber ID <Paul... Anthony Calfo in your service> Would it be possible to get a positive idea on this jpeg??? <unclear in popular aquarium literature but it does filter feed like Cucumaria sp> I know it is a cucumber but I would love to the specific taxonomic relationship if possible. There is so little known about the this "Cuke" yet available freely in the "reef" trade. Thanks for everything, Bob. <these filter feeding cucumbers are more difficult to keep in captivity than the detritivore feeders. If you didn't buy one yet... I'm inclined to suggest that you don't. Without unique plankton generating refugiums (aliotoms and bacteria from Seagrass refugiums and the like), I believe that you will have to work hard to help this filter feeder realize a long captive lifespan. Anthony> Sea Cucumber Identification Hey we have emailed a few times. I live near Monterey. We talked about meeting up for a brew or two......or three...... J/K. Not really a drinker. Anyway, you have a picture on you WetWebMedia (two pink and green colored cucumbers together (appear to be at the top of the tank) Anyway, I was duped into buying one about three months ago now. He seems to be doing well. He grew quite a bit the first few months and now he seems to be slimming down a bit. Nothing too dramatic. <This happens> Quite a neat critter but since I value your opinion so highly, I will never buy one or recommend one again unless I get a grant for research. Anyhoo, I was wondering what the hell is this particular Cucumber. I have asked many all who have no idea other than....."Yep, that is a cucumber". or "Not sure what species of cucumber specifically, but I would get rid of it right away". I don't have any fish just 2 starfish and some snails and crabs. Corals and live rock are the order of the day. No special filters or protein skimmers. Basically, a 20 gallon refugium that I change water in almost every 2 weeks. Sometimes earlier. Anyway, Tank just keeps rolling along, but I can't find reference to this guy on any website other than the picture you display in your Cucumber FAQ!!!! I would love to get all the taxonomic specs on this guy. <This is almost certainly a Cucumaria sp., family Cucumariidae, Order Dendrochirota...> Anyway, off to Marine Biology class I go......Thanks for all your help in the past and the present. I will send pictures if you like. One 10 gallon tank I have had for about a year done the same "refugium style". I get lots of compliments on it. So I decided to try the 20 gallon. Working out pretty good. No skimmer or filter other than Caulerpa and live rock/sand. Haven't lost a coral yet!!!!!! (Probably shouldn't brag about that, I might have just doomed myself.....wait...knocking on wood) Anyway, water is steam distilled and salt is added and let to stand for 2 weeks!!!!!! Been working out great. By the by, my wife and I leave for Palau for our second trip in less than a years time to get some more macro diving in. We great luck last time and saw every creature they had to offer (practically). So I am looking forward to meeting Larry Sharron this time (although I have had trouble emailing him lately.) We have mutual friends in Palau and just didn't get a chance to meet up. Do you know him? <Ahh, strangely enough, just read an email forwarded from Larry (to the AMDA)... still out there after fourteen years. Bob Fenner> Take care, Paul Mansur Orange Knobby Cuke Hi Bob, Quick question. Can you tell me the species name for the "Orange Knobby Cuke?" Looking for particulars on this Cuke but can't come up with the species name. Also, what is your opinion of using Cukes for clean up in a reef system? I'm extremely reluctant because I've read tons of frightening articles about them "eviscerating" and wiping out an entire tank of fish. Do you keep them? What's your call on this one? Tanks, Peggy <Please have a read here: http://www.WetWebMedia.com/seacukes.htm and the linked files beyond. Bob Fenner> A weird slug- type thing in my aquarium. Hi, I recently got a
beautiful 30 lb box of live rock from gulf-view.com .A couple of nights
ago, we saw (what appeared to be a leg of a black, spiny starfish)
coming out of a hole in one of the rocks. After a couple of minutes we
got a better look at it and it was the size of a slug that you would
find outside, but it was black with spots or raised spines, tentacles)
that were a cream color on it. <they were cerata if it was a sea
slug/shell-less snail> Well, after that he was nowhere to be found.
Last night, we see a crevice in another rock with something odd in it
also. It has purple tentacles that resemble the "tree" in a
sea apple cucumber ( how it looks like there are little branches on
it). It has about ten little tentacles that were arranged around a
small black space, and it a weird pattern, it would pull one tentacle
inside, and push another one out, constantly. It was really like
nothing I have ever seen. <indeed... that most definitely was a sea
cucumber> Today, I see that in the same space that it was in, now
looks like a small tip of the slug-type thing I mentioned also. What
could it be? Confused Kristie <a picture if possible...jpeg and
sized smaller for web viewing. Else the description is too general to
help you, alas> |
|
Features: |
|
Featured Sponsors: |