FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal
Identification
36
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Marine Invertebrates, Water Flow, How Much
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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 37, Non-Vert ID 38, Non-Vert ID 39, Non-Vert ID 40, Non-Vert ID 41, 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,
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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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Strange hitch hiker... not strange... tubeworms, sponge,
SW& 6/19/08 Hello crew, Thank you for all your helpful advice I
have learned so much from your website. I have a question about a hitch
hiker in my tank. I bought some Chaetomorpha algae and put it in my two
in-tank refugiums. I now have tube like worms growing on the glass
around the refugiums and attached to the refugiums. They are white and
grow out in a tube shape. They remind me of the siphon tube on a
Nassarius snail. It appears to have a mouth at the end and it attaches
to the glass with "branches" or "feet". They
appeared very quickly and in large amounts. I have the tube worms with
the hard shell that appear as tiny swirls on the glass and its not
those. I reviewed all the worm questions and did not see a picture. It
does not look like the pictures of aiptasia or hydroids that I have
seen. If you could help in anyway I would be very appreciative.
<It's really hard to say without a picture, but my *guess* from
your description would be some kind of sponge.> My tank is a 57
gallon tall, Aqua Clear 70 filter, heater set at 77F, about 10 pounds
of live rock, two seahorses, a skunk cleaner, one harlequin shrimp, two
chocolate chip sea stars (one being eaten and one in the refugium for
later), one feather duster, a toadstool leather coral, and several
hermit crabs and snails. My tests are Ammonia-0, Nitite-10, Nitrate-0,
PH-8.3. The only thing recently added was "reef bugs" and
liquid calcium by Kent. Thank You for any help with this. I will try
and get a picture but any ideas to look up would be great. <It
sounds like a sponge, but who knows? I'll likely be able to help
you a lot more if you can send in a photo. :-) Best, Sara M.>
Pest or pleasant? Stomatellids - 6/13/08
Hello experts <I'm as much an 'expert' here as I am
a Tang! But happy to help...> In our 550L Reef tank we have
discovered this creature: is it a friendly Chiton or a snail pest?
<Neither! This is a stomatellid snail. These little chaps are
tremendous algae eaters, besides being fun to watch. They'll
grow and reproduce in your aquarium as well, provided conditions
remain favorable.> It's body is much bigger than is small,
rather flat shell. OR. Am I looking two different animals??
<Nope, just one. Enjoy!> Kind <The same!>
Clive Rabson
<Benjamin> |
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Bizarre Creature Identification 6/9/08
Good Morning Crew, <Good evening Toni, Mich with you
tonight.> My fiancé' and I are new to saltwater
aquariums and we are very excited about our new found hobby.
<Welcome to the briny world.> He loves to sit and watch for
what seems to be hours on end! He reads a lot about things on the
Internet and we stumbled across your site. It's truly a God
send! <Glad you have found it helpful.> We have a question.
We acquired this very strange live shell, from the coast near
Corpus Christi. <OK.> It looks like a million individual
mouths that continuously open and close. They each have a feather
like tongue that they stick out each time they open their mouth.
The tongues resemble feather dusters, but the look like little
feather claws that the creature waves around before it draws it
back in. It is so strange that its kinda creepy. I have attached a
picture. Can you identify it? <Hard to tell from the picture,
but your description sounds like a barnacle.> I've Googled
everything I can think of, but no luck. We have a 25 gallon tank.
It's still fairly new, maybe a month 1/2 old the water levels
are holding at the levels the pet shop says they should <Best
not to rely solely on the pet shop. Please educate yourselves.
Perhaps do some reading on our site.> and it doesn't seem to
be negatively affecting anything. We have a Peppermint shrimp,
damsel, a goby, and several pounds of live rock. <You have a
very small system, please read and be careful of how much more
livestock you introduce.> There also seems to be another
creature that rode along with it. It isn't very clear in the
pic, <Mmm, I'm not seeing it in the pic, sorry.> but it
is small and bluish. It seems to have some sort of tentacles and it
came from the shell and has now attached itself to the live rock.
We thought it was a sponge or coral or something, but now I am
convinced its an animal. <Actually sponges and corals are
animals.> Any ideas on what this might be? <Mmm, possibly an
aiptasia or anemone of some sort, but is really a guess at
best.> I am concerned because these were not store bought. Are
they dangerous? <The barnacle is not, though they typically
don't live long in captivity.> Please help! I'm going
crazy trying to figure this out! Sorry for the poor quality
pictures. <Yeah, not the best, next time try using the macro
feature on your camera.> How are others getting such great
pictures of the life inside their tanks? <Use the macro setting,
usually looks has a symbol that looks like a flower, typically a
daisy.> You can barely see the bluish-purple creature its on the
left at the bottom of the rock, but it looks like some sort of soft
bodied snail like thing with short blue spiky looking tentacles one
end of its body. <That sounds like a Nudibranch, but if it is
relatively stationary it is likely not.> The rest of it looks
textured with little bumps, but not tentacles. <Definitely look
for the macro setting and if you can get a better image please feel
free to send it in. I will gladly try to help you figure out your
mystery creatures! Cheers,
Mich>
Toni McCrary |
Barnacles...
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Question, ID, no images 6/5/08 Hi WWM Crew,
I have found each answer you have provided to others very helpful and
use your site often! This particular "creature ID" I was not
successful in finding any insight on and was hoping you would help me
to the best of your knowledge!? <Is my habit> In this particular
saltwater set up I house a Snowflake Eel, Damsel, Niger Trigger,
Chocolate Chip Starfish, 2 Pencil Urchins, and several Crown Conches...
and the unknowns! <Mmm, do keep an eye on the Odonus... may well
sample the invertebrates here> The "unknowns" I speak of
are flat white disk looking things that are suctioned onto the glass by
a clear plate like suction cup. They stick straight out from the sides
of the tank. I also noticed that there are many more of them along the
side of a rock and they are all lined up evenly spaced. They are about
the size of a nickel and do not seem to move anywhere. I only have base
rock in this tank, no live rock so I'm not sure where they came
from! If you could help provide some ideas for me as to what these are
I would greatly appreciate it! Regards, Amy <Mmm, really need
photos... perhaps these discs are Ascidian colonies... see WWM, the Net
for pix... Bob Fenner> Mystery Thing'¦Holothurid? --
06/05/08 Good evening! <<Morning now'¦Hello!>>
I have a mystery guest in my 40 gal. reef tank that I can't find an
I.D. for. <<Oh?>> I found it on the glass yesterday. It is
about an inch long stretched out, purplish in color and covered in what
look like tube feet. <<Hmm'¦>> It also had about
five antennae-like things coming off of what I think is the front, but
if I get too close they retract. <<From your description, this
sounds like a species of filter-feeding Holothurid '¦a Sea
Cucumber>> I am attaching picture I took, I tried to zoom in and
crop it, but I'm not sure if it worked. <<There was no
picture with this email>> I saw one of these creatures at Petco
once, and was so curious what it was they let me have it, but when I
put it in our tank it immediately shriveled up and floated under a
rock. <<Typical'¦easily swept away by water motion
unless given an opportunity to attach itself first>> Could it be
a type of sea cucumber? <<That's what I'm thinking,
yes>> I can't seem to find anything like it on your site.
<<Though it may differ in color, have a look at the examples
here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seacukes.htm >> Any ideas as to
what it is? <<As stated'¦>> Thanks for your help,
Amanda <<Quite welcome. Enjoy this animal while it is
around'¦they generally don't do well in captive systems
unless of some size and supported by a plankton generating refugium.
But do check out the links at the top of the article page on Cucumber
systems and feeding. Regards, EricR>>
Sedentariate Polychaete ID
6/4/08 Quick question - I noticed on the back wall of my tank
there is white spiral? It looks like a @, well more circular.
Like you drew a perfect circle then went around the original
circle two more times or so? Any ideas? It almost looks like ring
worm? Should I be worried? Tank info below... <Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/featheridfaqs.htm Bob Fenner>
Re: What went wrong!? Invert. ID -- 6/4/08 I
didn't see anything that came close to what I was talking
about below. This is what it looks like exactly but it is white.
<Ahh, perhaps a reproductive event... mollusks... BobF>
Re: What went wrong!? Found my answer here ------)
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seaslugrepro.htm Thanks! <Ahh yes!
BobF, who has a friend with your last name here in San Diego...
JoeC> Re: What went wrong!? Joe Curry huh.....maybe a
distant relative, is he rich? <Heeee! Lives in a nice
neighborhood...> JK, thanks for all your guys help!
<Welcome John. BobF>
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Unidentified organism 6/4/08 Hi there, I
have had a 300 gallon set up for almost a year now; I have added a deep
sand bed of about 5 inches some cured base rock that is coming along
nicely.&I have added hermits and snail, along with two fish awhile
back. I have two rapids pro filter/skimmers. Water
parameters are great. I have&had no problems at
all.&I have noticed that there is a lot of small bristle
worms. Now i have noticed these clear long web type of
organism. Having a close look along these long strands that
are mainly on the walls, but have noticed they are on the rock
and hermit crab shells as well. They have hydra type heads
along the strings and are branchy almost like a web or varicose
veins. I assume it is a hydroid, all help appreciated,
thanks! <Impossible to tell from this desc.... please send along a
pic... well-resolved... Bob Fenner>
What is this plant or animal ??
5/29/08 Hello Crew ! <Lisa> I
purchased this item for my salt water reef tank because I thought
it was really cool looking. But the people at the fish store did
not seem to know what it was.. In quote he said it was more plant
than animal??? I am curios if any of you might have a better answer
for me. The picture is not real clear, I tried to get a better one
to no avail. it is creamy in color, soft to the touch and forms
crystals at its base and underside as well as a few erupting from
the top spongy parts, I can pull them out with ease kinda like
pulling a splinter out. pulling them out does not seem to affect it
at all. The crystals are small about 2ml long and whitish. They
seem to fall off the underside and collect underneath.
<Crystals... I was going to guess this was some sort of Soft
Coral of the Family Alcyoniidae:
http://wetwebmedia.com/alcyoniidsii.htm but now... am pretty sure
it's a Sponge of some sort... the crystals> Thanks for any
input you might have. Lisa the curious <I'd just keep
removing bits of it if it's growing too much... keep it
isolated on the few rocks it's spread to. Bob Fenner> Re:
What is this plant or animal ?? 5/29/08Thanks Bob, You
mentioned to keep it isolated on the rock it is on, did you say
this because could it be damaging to my reef or just overtake it.
Lisa <Mmm, kind of both... some sponges (not all) have proven to
be "aggressive" chemically, physically... best to
"keep them isolated"... or is that lyric "You gotta
keep 'em separated"? BobF> |
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What's this? Need more information -
5/25/08 Hi <Hi Sue, Lynn here this morning!> I have a
newly established marine aquarium and I'd like to know if I have a
feather duster forming. I took pics but you'd never see it because
they were bad quality, sorry. <Yep, small subjects can be a real
challenge to photograph. You might check to see if your camera has a
"Macro" mode. It's usually represented as a small flower
icon (like a Daisy), either on a button or within the menu mode of the
camera.> It's growing off the live rock, clear with a black sort
of spot about a third of the way from the top. It's very small at
the moment and I wondered how feather duster worms actually form.
<It depends. There are many, many different types of what's
commonly called a feather duster. Please see these links for more
information: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/feather.htm
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/aug2002/invert.htm > I've
researched this but can't find one at such a small stage. <How
small is it - in inches or mm? Do you see a tube or feathery crown at
all? I'm sorry Sue, but I just don't have enough information to
go on. The good news is that what you're seeing is most likely
harmless. Just keep an eye on it and if you're ever able to get a
good photo, please send it along!> Regards Sue xx <Take care,
-Lynn>
Freshwater Amphipods? --
05/21/2008 Hi, <Hello Adam.> I was wondering if you
guys could help me identify these little critters. <Sure will
try.> They came in a shipment of feeder goldfish, possibly
originating from Florida. For all intents and purposes, they look
like brine shrimp crossed with clams. When they get scared, they
close up in a bivalve-esque fashion and just look like little
clams. But they will also swim around like little brine shrimp, and
obviously have legs and eyes and antennae. <These are Ostracods
aka Seed Shrimps. They are one (or possibly several) group(s) of
Crustaceans with clam like shells. A internet search for Ostracods
will bring up a lot of interesting facts, e.g.
http://w3.gre.ac.uk/schools/nri/earth/ostracod/introduction.htm.>
They don't seem to bother anything, so I assume they are filter
feeders. Thanks! ~Adam <They are most likely beneficial
creatures, only very few are parasites, most feed on detritus and
decaying plants and animals, a few are predators. Ostracods are
often used as fish food. Cheers, Marco.> |
<Cool!!
-Sara M.> |
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