|
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 Spiders 5/16/09
Re: What Could This Be? A Pycnogonid...Maybe - 04/25/07 Eric and all, <<Hello Jan>> My husband and I looked, and it does not have the "emaciated" look of the sea spider. <<I see...I seem to recall there are some that do appear "robust". Perhaps some further searching...>> Our rock nester has thick legs, very hairy fur like, thick body, pointy claws at the end, yuck. Is there any other "look see" or what it might be? Any thoughts and many thanks for even venturing out there with ideas? <<I still think it could be a Pycnogonid, but if not, maybe it is a species of crab. There are some small reef dwelling species referred to as "spider" crabs for obvious reasons...including the fuzzy appearance. A picture would help if you can provide a sharp close-up photo (no more than a few KB in size please). Eric Russell>> Zoanthid spiders, Pycnogonids, MgCl2 dipping... 4/18/07 Hi, I know you have talked about these before, but I couldn't find the answer to my question on the previous forum. I am a newbie and did not know that I should QT corals (I know better now). Somehow, somewhere, I have picked up Zoanthid spiders. <Pycnogonids... some of which do feed on Zoanthids... some are "just" space commensals...> So far, I have FW dipped the affected zoos, dipped them with coral dip <... what is this? Oh, the Kent Product... mainly I2 cpd.s> and QT'ed them. They have been in QT for about a month. I didn't see anything for the last month, but recently began to notice that some of the zoos looked puny and were drooping. Tonight about 2 hours after lights out, I turned on the lights and saw a baby spider. I immediately FW dipped the zoo and got another. I dipped all the zoos in the QT and got a couple more. I have had about enough. This is so disappointing. I finally just tossed the affected zoos tonight. <?!> I am writing because I am worried about the zoos that dipped clean on the first go round. I left these guys in my DT and they seem to be doing fine. I plan on doing another FW/coral dip tonight on the ones that are not attached to rocks and see what happens. If I find more spiders, what should I do? <Remove, and dip (in a 1.024 or so spg MgCl2 (Magnesium Chloride) solution (made with clean freshwater...) for half a minute... place all in a new, non-infested system...> I have several colonies that are attached to base rocks in my tank. If I find spiders in some of the colonies should I take out the base rock and dip/QT it too? <You could... but starving these Pycnogonids out will do the same... just leave them, the existing system w/o food for a month or more...> I probably weighs about 20#. I hope you all can help me decide what to do. I love this hobby but am getting very close to bailing because of the disappointments. I also received some flatworm infested Chaeto from my trusted LFS. Now my refugium has a few of them. What should I do? <Read... on WWM re...> Will a Sixline wrasse help at all? Will they eat these things? Thanks, Miri <Read on my friend, read on. Bob Fenner> Sea Spider? - 06/05/06 I have a quick ID question for you guys.<<and gals>> Let's see if I can give as much information as I can. <<Okay>> I'm not sure it will be enough because I can't get a good pic. <<Mmm...>> I found this thing on my Zoas tonight after the lights in the tank went out. I have 4 Zoas colonies and I found two organisms on the same colony. The rest seem to be clear of them. These things are about 5mm in diameter, have 8 legs, are a brownish clear color and have radial symmetry. I would normally say some kind of micro sea star, but I'm not sure. One was wrapped around the stalk of the Zoas, seeming to squeeze it - which makes me think some kind of parasite. I pulled it off and it was NOT happy - all writhing around. I found another of the same colony latched onto a rock. They are not pretty, very insect looking. <<Possibly a sea spider (Anoplodactylus erectus), a carnivorous marine arthropod. Try a Google search re and see what you think>> I was just wondering what it was, if it's harmful, and what I should do about it. <<If indeed a sea spider it is likely harmful/should be removed>> <Mmm... don't appear that deleterious in the wild... RMF> Thanks so much, Jennifer K. <<Hope that helps. Regards, EricR>> Sea Spider? II - 06/06/06 EricR, <<Hello Jenny>> That absolutely looks like what it is! <<Ah! A successful ID then>> All I can say is yuck! <<Ha!...they are kinda creepy looking...>> I read around and it seems that they may feed on corals and other inverts. <<Is what I know of them as well...though must say, I believe Bob does not consider them as harmful as we might think>> I've had this tank established for almost two years and w/o additions for over 4 months. Where the heck did it come from? <<Mmm...likely been there all along, or were spawned from the live rock>> Should I just manually remove them if I see anymore? <<Tis up to you...maybe try observing their behavior...removing if you notice a deleterious effect on your corals>> I only found two that one night, no other time..... I do not want anything detrimental in my tank! Help! <<Time for some close observation>> Thanks so much, Jenny <<Happy to assist. EricR>> Hi Bob--long time, no see!! Sea Spiders and Euhirudineans Hi Bob, <Bonnie! Long time indeed> Just found your web site with some nice photos of pycnogonids. Check out our website for more info. on these critters! Bonnie <Neat! And a forum as well... will share, post. Bob Fenner> Dr. Bonnie A. Bain Pycnogonid Systematics and Evolution Department of Biological Sciences Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011 Pycnogonids - Sea spiders 5/7/04 Hello again crew, <howdy> Last night I was cleaning out my canister filter. I usually go nuts about collecting all the little critters that are sucked up so they can be placed back into the system. Normally they are limited to Amphipods, medusa worms, and the occasional bristle worm. I came across this little critter, and became immediately intrigued. He is about 1/8-1/4 inch in length, and can only be described as looking like a stick figure. <clearly looks like a Pycnogonid sea spider. They are generally difficult to keep alive and tend to be carnivorous. If its living for any length of time in your system, its preying on something: sea spiders eating Aiptasia anemones and hydroids make regular appearances> He is quite active, and I am keeping him in isolation until I can get some sort of a positive ID. I am attaching a few photos of him in various positions, and with various white balance settings. I know the pictures may be a bit fuzzy, but it shouldn't turn out too bad. Thanks in advance for all the help! Steve <fascinating creatures... do some keyword searches with this name and see what you can find. Best regards, Anthony> |
|
Features: |
|
Featured Sponsors: |