LR ID F 27

FAQs about Live Rock Hitchhiker/Creature Identification 27

Related Articles: Live Rock, Reef Systems, Refugiums,

Assistance please in identification 11/30/10
Hello from Australia and congrats on a great web site and an inspiring source of information.
<Howdy and thank you>
I require some assistance please in identifying a stringy yellow/ cream coating at the very base of my live rock. I have attached a photo.
<I see this>
It is only in this one small spot (hard to get to because of some overhanging rock) and does not appear noxious or particularly irritating to nearby corals. Nonetheless it would be good to identify as friend or foe!
<Almost assuredly this is a sponge/Poriferan. Friend>
I have also attached a photo of my baby sea urchin. I found him during tank cleaning about a month ago - at that time he/she was about half the size than in this photo. Mum (and I now assume Dad) are happy
eating Nori as well as commercial brands of red and brown sea weed that I tie to rocks and sink. They are very peaceful additions to the tank and have given me at least one offspring - quite possibly more.
Cute eh?
<Ah yes>
Are you able to provide any information on how/when they breed?
<Are separate sexes... as all Echinoderms... have a pelagic phase...>
I assume they are egg layers with the male fertilizing the eggs?
<Yes>
I have not witnessed anything close to urchin "action" in the tank!
<This individual was part of your "live rock" or other hard material introduced into the system... Not sexually derived here>
Thanks for your help and keep up the good work.
Kelly
<Welcome! Bob Fenner>

Re: Assistance please in identification 12/1/10
Thanks for the reply. Can I please ask if you think it could be possible my sea urchin is the product of my two adults?
<Highly unlikely... read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/urchinreprofaqs.htm
The reason I ask is I have not introduced any new live rock or coral to my tank in over 6 months and this little guy has doubled in size in the last 1 month so I am guessing is not >6 months old.
<Mmm, could be... growing much slower previously>
Also it is exactly the same species as my two adults and with all the different types of urchins in pet stores over here it would seem coincidental to have a hitch hiker of the same breed. I did find a PhD student in Western Australia that was breeding them for his studies - although I was unsure of the type - so I assumed they bred readily in captivity?
<Can be induced to release gametes, IF brought into reproductive fitness, ripeness... but the pelagic larval stage is very hard to support in typical hobby settings. Requires specialized recirculation, a dearth of mechanical disruption (filtration)...>
Thankful for your reply and certainly not trying to argue the point
<No worries. Am glad to discuss any/all point/s. Perhaps this is an in situ reproductive event... BobF>
Cheers.
Kelly Neill

Unusual growth 11/22/10
Hi gang,
I found your site about 2 months ago, and boy do I wish I had heard about it 2 years ago when I first started into saltwater aquaria..
<I as well>
I recently had the "worst nightmare" of a leaking tank (72g) late on a Friday night, and managed to save everything to put into a new tank and at the same time install a new Aqueon Proflex2 sump in place of the Fluval 305 filter. After getting everything back (no new additions) I found this strange white creature growing under an overhang on the live rock. At first I thought it might be some kind of Bryozoan but have my doubts. Could you give it a shot at identification
<Though branched at the tips, due to colour and position, I suspect this is a sponge/Poriferan. Not problematical>
Tank is a 55g mixed fish (2 Clowns, Mandarin Dragonet, Imperial Angel,
<... this fish is misplaced here... Needs a much larger volume>
Lattice Butterfly, Tomini Tang, Coal Beauty, 4 Damsels and a Long Nose Hawkfish ),
<All need more room>
Soft Coral ( 2 leather corals, 3 Soft Tree corals and 2 Bubble Tip Anemones) Running 2 Protein skimmers ( CPR Backpack 2 in the sump) and Sea Clone 150 HOB (Is there such a thing as overskimming??)
<Not really>
Thanks
Graham Featherstone
<The bigger world. Now. Bob Fenner>

Re: Unusual growth 11/23/10
Hi Bob,
<Graham>
Many thanks for your info, yes I agree the tank is too small at the moment, however panic mode set in and the 55g was all I could get hold of at 8:00pm on a Friday evening. Plan is to get a 120g shortly, an even bigger tank would mean moving the system downstairs (or moving house, whichever ends up cheaper).
<?!>
I have a very good LFS here in Abbotsford, B.C. who is always willing to trade if the fish get too big.
<Good; though "it's" almost always too late to "tell">
I will keep an eye on the sponge/Poriferan and see if it changes at all and let you know.
Graham
<Thank you. BobF>

live rock hitchhiker - what is it? 11/18/10
Hello Wet Web,
<And Wendy has...>
can you identify this little monster I found in my live rock?
<Mmm, yes; looks to be a Caprellid Amphipod... a skeleton shrimp>
Thanks,
Wendy
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Live Rock Hitchhikers 5/4/10
Dear WWM kind folks,
<Nick>
Would you be able to identify the following hitchhikers for me?
<Mmm, yes... the green bits appear to be the Chlorophyte Neomeris sp., the red encrusting bit is likely coralline algae>
The tank's a Nano that's been up for 6 months. Lights have recently been (very) upgraded, and these plant-like things are sprouting. Should I remove them?
<Nah>
Also, the red raised patch to the right - is that a sponge?
<Mmm, could be... >
Many thanks.
Nick
<As many welcomes. Bob Fenner>

full size crops

Don't know 10/16/10
Hello again, don't what they are or if I should be worried????
Thanks
<Mmm, your pix are very blurry, but I do think these are Hydrozoans...
likely undesirable. Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/hyzoancompfaq.htm
Bob Fenner>

Question for the Crew, LR ID 10/14/10
Hi there,
>Bri>
I am new to the Hobby and I am so "addicted", it is a great hobby and I am getting hours of daily entertainment as well as learning so much. I have a new level of appreciation for our precious oceans.
<Ahh, great to read/realize>
I will try to describe my question without a picture (what I am questioning is small and translucent and my camera can't capture it. Anyway, I have a 14 gallon Nano Reef Tank and on the glass (bottom corner under the return) are 3 small creatures all attached by what appears to be very thin hair like threads all coming together to a single strand that appears to have an embryo like form. I know without a picture and with my basic non technical description that I am "grasping at straws" in hopes of getting an answer.
Please let me know what it could be and I will do more extensive research at my end.
Warmest Regards,
Brian. Matthews
<Perhaps some kind/species of Hydrozoan... Please read through here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/hyzoanidfaq.htm
and the linked ID files above. Bob Fenner>

Interesting, and underwater 9/26/10
Hi there
<Ho there>
I was referred to this email address by someone on Reddit. They said you are "very knowledgeable about most things sea-water". I was hoping you could help me identify what this is. I am just curious, because I
had not seen one before and have not seen one since.
http://i.imgur.com/CltNL.jpg
<Mmm Dictyosphaeria, likely D. cavernosa... a colonial green/Chlorophyte>
I saw it off the coast of Mexico, about 8 feet down. It was about 4 or 5 inches in diameter, I think.
Thanks!
Colton Walker
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Re: Interesting, and underwater 9/26/10
Wow! Very cool. Thanks for the help and for being so quick.
Now I know where to go for underwater questions :) Hope you don't mind.
Colton
<Not at all. BobF>

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