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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification
14
Related Articles: Marine Invertebrates, 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 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 24, 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 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,
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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| Creature ID 3/14/06 Hi, <Good morning
from HI> I would really appreciate it if you could identify this
curious creature residing in my (almost) reef tank (one small
addition at a time). Unfortunately, I cannot give you much
information as I have only seen the creature once for less than a
second as it 'swam' (perhaps wriggled) away from the
torchlight at 4am in the morning (I am this determined to get a
good look). <And no pic?> For the last week I have noticed
that a 'structure' is being built up against a chunk of
live rock, suspended off the coral sand substrate. Each morning
this structure has more material added to it. <Neat> The
first part of the structure is made with grains of coral sand, is
about 10mm long, appears to be round and the grains appear to be
glued in some way. This structure grew for a couple of nights to a
total length of 20mm. Next, a large snail shell had been moved
(again through the night) across the aquarium bottom and was held
to this structure. Now, the method of adhesion can be
seen. Thin threads of spider like silk hold the large
shell to the structure. The shell is resting on the
Coral sand and not suspended. The next night (last night) a small
snail shell had been moved into place and held up to the rest of
the structure, suspended off the bottom. This morning, I decided to
try and spot it. I used a torch to see into the tank and
spotted for less than a second what appeared to be a fish like
creature. It was about 30mm long and brown in
colour. I am sorry, but this is as good as the
description gets. Tonight I intend to set the camera up
on a tripod and in the morning (while it is still dark) take a
'blind' photo and hope the blighter is there at that time.
I hope that you may have an idea what this is given the vague
information I have provided. <Do send along the image... cropped
to show the organism, structure at good size> While on the
subject of night observing, would a red light be a better option to
use for looking into the aquarium in the dark hours? <Yes> If
not, is there a colour that the creatures are less startled by or
even better, cannot sense? <Red spectra are best, but blue will
work and look much more "natural"> For your
information, my tank is 90 gallons and still fairly young at 6
months old. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you
all for your work on WWM. On many occasions I have been
in a state of anxiety worrying that what I have in my tank may be
bad. The use of this site has always proved helpful and
put me at ease. My thanks in advance Tim <Don't know what
this animal is... likely a crustacean of some sort... Bob
Fenner> |
| Creature ID 3/15/06 Hi Bob, <Tim> Many
thanks for your speedy reply. <Welcome> Attached is a
photograph of the structure that has been built. It
starts at the top left of the picture, goes up and over the top of
the rock and then down (this bit is made of coral sand). <I see
it> The next bit you see is a long thin shell, below this a
small snail shell and then at the bottom, a large snail
shell. The quality of the photo is insufficient to show
resolution of the silk strands but they can be seen if you know
where they are. They are connected to the large snail
shell at the 10'Oclock region and go up to join the rock just
above the small snail shell. As you can see, the large
shell is not completely resting on the sand, but is held up a small
amount by the 'silk'. I still have not had a good look at
the creature yet or since glimpsed it at all. Is there
any crustacean that use silk as an adhesive? <Mmm, yes> To
give you a rough idea of scale, the circular base of that large
shell is about the size of an old penny. If I do manage a picture
of the creature, I will send it over to you. Regards Tim <Look
forward to seeing it/this... Again, likely a crustacean of some
sort... second mega-guess, a worm... Bob Fenner> |
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| What is this? 3/10/06 Good afternoon Bob,
Thanks for such a wonderful website, packed with so much
information. I have attached a photo of something I just found
climbing on my aquarium glass, could you please identify this for
me and is it harmful or poisonous? Thanks Catscot <Mmm, looks to
be a gastropod of some sort (the appearance of the foot here), but
could be a polypoid animal of some sort. I would leave it be, enjoy
it. Bob Fenner> |
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Invert ID/Barnacle? 03/9/06 Greetings!
<Hello Orlando> I'll start off by saying that I've
learned a lot from your site and am still learning something new each
day. <Keep reading my friend.> You guys are awesomeous!!!
I've had my tank set up for over a year now and new critters still
pop out of my rocks now and then. The latest one I can't identify
anywhere I search and still cannot photograph it clearly enough to
send. I added an extra pump for circulation and aimed it towards some
rocks, when suddenly out of a tiny hole in a rock (this particular rock
was added about 3 weeks ago) I see what is similar to the stalks/leaves
on carrots but black instead of green. They seemed to be retracting in
a little then folding into a mouth in the center, as if filter-feeding.
I added some food (reef chili) into the current and it went nuts
grabbing as much of the particles as possible and shoving them into its
mouth. What is this? Does it ring a bell? The arms don't look like
the feathers on the featherworms nor do they look like tentacles. Right
now it is about half an inch in diameter when fanned out and each
branch is so thin that the camera barely captures it. On
video it's easier to see. <Sounds like a type of barnacle to
me. Pics would help. James (Salty Dog)>
Orlando
| Invert ID - 03/05/06 Here are the pics I was able
to get, Thanks for your assistance. My
regards to Bob, John <Bob is out on a well earned
vacation. James again. John, the pics dictate
a type of cucumber or slug, I'd probably lean toward a
cuke. Bob may know exactly what it
is. Hopefully he will insert something
here. James (Salty Dog)> -- "FAQ Crew"
<crew@mail.wetwebmedia.com> wrote: Thank you
for contacting us at WetWebMedia.com Your reply is below Invert ID
Anyone have any information on an Invertebrate "Crytoplax
<Cryptoplax> larvaeformis" I believe I found one in my
tank last night. I found a close illustration in Julian
Sprung's Invert book. It is about the size of your little
finger 2" - 2 1/2" long, 1/2" in Diameter. It has a
leathery type skin and a row of what looks like plates or points
along the top length and a white cartilage looking thing running
the Length of the underside. It resembles a garden slug. I will try
to post photo's. <Do send photo and we me be able to
identify.> Thanks <You're welcome. James
(Salty Dog)> John Janda <<? They are/were attached... some
4 plus megs worth. Is this not uncommon Chiton. Bob
Fenner>> |
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Tiny Transparent Jelly-Like Creature On Live
Rock! 2/24/06 Wait... he's not on the rock
anymore, now he is on one of my blue hermits!
Good morning. I am upgrading my
10 gallon to a 29 gallon and just purchased 26 pounds of Marshall
Island live rock. There are many wonderful things living
on the rock, but one thing in particular really has me perplexed.
At first I thought that it was just some
sort of hairs or antennae protruding from the rock. Upon
closer inspection, though, I noticed that there are two long
(approximately 5-6 inches long) hairs that resemble 2 single
feathers which wiggle about and take in floating materials from the
water. As material hits one of the "feathers",
the material is moved extremely quickly down to the
"body". At first glance, the "body"
looks like dead transparent sponge, or some jelly-like substance on
the rock. (Mind you, the rock is not completely cured so
the blob is difficult to distinguish from the many dead
"blobs" on the rock.) The strange thing,
though, is that this thing actually moves in the
tank. He is normally seen perched on the exact same spot
throughout the day, but yesterday he had disappeared from his happy
spot in a well lit area and I found him on one of my nearby
crabs! The thing didn't seem to enjoy the ride on
the crab's back for too long because about a half hour later
the thing was back in his favorite spot.
Do you have any idea at all what this thing
might be? <Mmm, could be a few things... A
ctenophore, crinoid, hydrozoan, polychaete...> I have drawn a
picture since it is too difficult to get a clear picture of
it. He is just less than a half-inch long in
"body" but the "feathers" are nearly
6 inches long each and retract, move rapidly (not just due to water
flow) and the "feathers" also move food in the same
manner as a starfish moves food towards its mouth, only much much
quicker. The "body" sometimes appears to be
triangular in shape like a tiny Hershey's kiss, but at other
times the "body" is just a blob. The
"feathers" also appear to be
retractable. Could it be harmful or possess stinging
capabilities? <Possibly... but will likely "cycle out"
of its own accord... Short answer/primary mentat projection: I
would leave it> I would really rather not touch it to find out!
Thank you so much for your help! Carrie
<What a planet eh? I'm not leaving! Bob Fenner> |
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| Re: Tiny Transparent Jelly-Like Creature On Live
Rock! 2/24/06 Thank you so much,
Bob!!! I searched the web for the terms of possible
creatures that you thought the mysterious blob might be and found
that it has to be a purse jelly (Coeloplana)! <Ahh! A ctenophore
after all... What's that saying? "Stick with your first
guess"> Absolutely amazing! Thank you again for
your expertise! You're "The Man"! (Just don't let
it go to your head...) Carrie <Heeee! Too much about to keep me
humble... forever! BobF> |
Little Bug-Like Creatures - 02/22/06 Hi,
<<Hello>> I have a tank that has been running for about 6
months, and has LR, various polyps, corals, a pistol shrimp, 4 fish,
hermit crabs, snails, 2 conches, and a serpent starfish. I
just converted my wet/dry into a refugium with live sand, some live
rock, and some mangrove seedlings (I think they are
seedlings). A few weeks ago at night I began noticing a few
of these little translucent creatures spinning around and swimming all
over the water. They have a few legs, with the front (or it
could be back) 2 legs curved outward. It's almost
impossible to get a photo because they are moving very
fast. Tonight when I looked there were literally a few
hundred of these creatures at the top of the water. Are these creatures
a problem? <<Unlikely>> I have read about copepods etc, and
did a little research but these look at least to be different than
anything I have seen in photos. The weird thing is that they
mainly stay at the top of the water. Should I be alarmed
about this? <<I wouldn't be.>> Are they
bugs? Larvae of some kind? <<Likely a "pod",
small crustacean of some kind brought in even "hatched" from
your live rock. Many possibilities...and very likely
harmless, if not beneficial.>> Any advice on this would be
appreciated. Thanks again! Dave Sheehan <<Regards,
EricR>>
| Identify these pics of marine life from my tank!
2/22/06 Hi! This is Sam from India. I wanted you to please try
and identify these pictures of marine life which i clicked from my
aquarium. Most of the life is collected from my local areas. Common
names, Latin names or even something close to will be fine, as i
can then refer to their special care for long life! The main stuff
to id is the anemone fish and the anemones. waiting for reply,
thanks. regards Sam <... These are all ID'd on WWM... with
the exception of the "Red Anemone" (don't know what
this is... the Carpet is a Haddoni... and the Tube Anemone... a
Cerianthus... not kept together, hard to keep individually... the
Clowns are Clarkii's... See WWM re Identification by group,
then their Systems... all posted. Bob Fenner> |
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Microscopic Tubes? Polychaete ID, Likely Spirorbids -
02/13/2006 I was wondering if you could help me identify what is
growing in my tank. <I'll try.> Especially my canister
filter. I've looked all around the site but obviously in the wrong
places. About a month ago I noticed a few tiny white calcareous looking
growths attached to the basket inside my canister filter. Now the
inside is COVERED and they're starting to appear on the inside of
the tank itself, on the powerheads and glass. Looking closely they look
to be tiny spiraling tubes. What are these things? <Most definitely
a tube dwelling polychaete worm, I'd bet spirorbids.> Do I have
a problem on my hands? <Hmm...I don't know, but your tank is
fine;)> Thanks for any help. <Sure. - Josh>
Small, White, Spiral Growths - 02/06/2006 Hi I have new
saltwater aquarium, been running about 2 months. Everything is looking
great and doing well. I have noticed some white coral looking organisms
that are showing up on the glass. They're half moon shaped, kinda
spirally about 1/16th on an inch diameter, any help with identifying
these and make sure they're ok. <Well Ryan, based on your
description, I'm pretty sure these are spirorbids. Totally harmless
Polychaete worms.> Thank You, Ryan
<Gladly. - Josh>
Strange Growth ID 2/6/06 Sorry about the
previous attempt at email. I have a Mac with I Photo
and apparently the two machines can't talk to each other in
Mac language. <I know the feeling.> I'll
try this the old way. It still shows up as a
photo rather than as a standard
attachment. If it doesn't work sorry I wasted
your time. <It came across fine.> Was hoping you could
identify these guys that recently popped up and are growing
fast on the underside of a brain coral
skeleton. They are quite cool looking but
seem to be spreading....a problem? They are pink
and shaped like staghorn but translucent and don't seem to
be rigid. <It looks to me like they're a bit of flesh
from the coral that somehow survived. LPS Corals are well-known for
this.> Sorry about the blenny.....he's become quite the
camera ham.....can't take a picture of anything without
him getting in the frame. <Hah... I originally assumed that your
Critter ID was for the Blenny.> Thanks for your time. Janie
<Best of luck! Mike G> |
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