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Related FAQs;
Flatworms/Planaria 1,
Flatworms 2, Flatworms
3, & FAQs on: Flatworm Identification,
Flatworm ID 2,
Flatworm ID 3, Flatworm Behavior,
Flatworm Compatibility,
Flatworm Control,
Predator Control,
Chemical Control,
Flatworm Selection,
Flatworm Systems,
Flatworm Feeding,
Flatworm Disease,
Flatworm Reproduction,
Related Articles:
Pest Flatworm Control by
Anthony Calfo, Worm Diversity,
/The Conscientious Reef
Aquarist:
Flatworms, including "Planaria" & Marine Aquariums, Part
3
To: Part 1,
Part 2,
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By Bob Fenner |
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| Thysanozoon flavomaculatum Red Sea image. |
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| Thysanozoon nigropapillosum (Hyman 1969). Dorsal
surface black with short papillae tipped with yellow. White band around
edge. Mid Indian Ocean east to Western Pacific. Photo taken off Pulau
Redang, Malaysia. |
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Parasitic Flatworms: Black-Spot Disease of Yellow Tangs
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My graduate school roommate Mike Kent worked out the
life-cycle of this Platyhelminth, Paravortex for his Master's
Thesis. Other authors list the use of organo-phosphate containing
medications to rid Yellow Tangs and other fishes (7 families, 130 some
species) and their system of this turbellarian, but a simple freshwater
dip, sans copper or anything else, wipes them out without having to put
anything in your main system. After this knowledge became common and a
routine freshwater dip procedure was adopted by wholesalers, we had a
Dickens of a time getting more Paravortex. If your system will
accommodate a cleaner goby, shrimp, by all means include one.
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Flatworm Predators on Parade!
Due to their bad taste, often outright toxicity, most flatworms are
unpalatable to predators. However, there are notable exceptions. Some that may
work are listed/pictured below:
| Chelidonura varians Eliot 1903, THE Flatworm
Eating Sea Slug! Tropical Indo-West Pacific.
To seven cm. in length. This one off of Heron Island, Queensland,
Australia. |
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| Lysmata wurdemanni (Gibbes 1850), Peppermint Shrimp,
Caribbean Cleaner Shrimp. Tropical West Atlantic. Lives singly or in
groups. Gets along with all aquarium species. Commercially produced. A
reclusive, sometimes misidentified species (there are other shrimp from
the area that are similar) used in the fight to limit Aiptasia Anemones
in aquariums. |
/Lysmata/Lysmata_wurdemanniAQ.jpg) |
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Halichoeres chrysus Randall 1981 (1), is a fish of
two "good" and one bad common name. It should be called the Golden or Canary
Wrasse for its bright bold sun-yellow color, but is most often listed as the
Yellow Coris Wrasse (Arggghhh!, it is not a Coris genus member of course). This
is an exemplary aquarium species that is suitable for peaceful fish-only and
reef systems. To a mere 4 inches or so total length. Aquarium & S. Sulawesi
photos. Eastern Indian Ocean distribution.
http://fishbase.sinica.edu.tw/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=4855&genusname=Halichoeres&speciesname=chrysus
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Pseudocheilinus evanidus Jordan & Evermann 1903,
the Pin-Striped or Striated Wrasse (2). I like this fish’s other common
names, the Disappearing or Vanishing Wrasse for its bashfulness. To a
grand size of three inches. Indo-Pacific, including Red Sea and Hawai'i.
Two in the Red Sea.
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| Pseudocheilinus hexataenia (Bleeker 1857), the
Sixline Wrasse (2). A feisty, though small (to 4") a reef tank species.
Indo-Pacific, including the Red Sea in its distribution. Aquarium and
Queensland, Australia images. |
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Foods/Feeding/Nutrition:
All Polyclad Flatworms are carnivorous, and specific about
their prey. Most feed on sea squirts, bryozoans, small worms, crustaceans, or
snails, but some are cannibalistic.
Reproduction:
Platyhelminths are true hermaphrodites... being both male
and female. Cross-fertilization is the rule with a "pair" rudely stabbing one
another with a hard penile stylet to enact sperm transfer. As you know due to
exposure with Planaria, they can also generate new individuals by splitting
asexually.
To: Part 1, Part 2,
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