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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal
Identification
21
Related Articles: Marine Invertebrates, Marine Invertebrate Systems, Marine Invertebrate Compatibility,
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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 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 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:
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Invertebrate Systems, Feeding
Reef Invertebrates, Marine
Invertebrate Disease, Marine
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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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All living marine systems have a myriad of worms
species living in their substrates.
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| More creatures, Blurry Photos, ID Possibly
Aiptasia, Mini Stars and Unknowns 2/28/07 Hi there <Hi
Faye, Mich here.> I've been lurking on your website and have
looked all over the place and I still can't find any
information or pictures of the creatures I'm trying to
identify, so I've added some photos to show you which I took
with my phone and a magnifying glass! <Ho
buoy! Blurrreee!!!> The first one has a creature on
it which I'm struggling to make my mind up whether its an evil
anemone or a sort of tube worm, its about 4mm diameter on a fat
stalk and they retract when touched they are quite transparent too,
<I think this is an Aiptasia anemone. I would make an
effort to remove it from your system. More here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aiptasia.htm and
here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i3/aiptasia_impressions/aiptaisia_impressions.htm >
In the picture with it is a blob which has appeared a couple of
days ago and looks like a triangular shaped rock on a stalk! It is
only about 3mm wide by about the same tall. <I really can't
tell from your description and the photo. I'm
sorry.> The next one is a colony of polyps which are about 3mm
diameter each and are orange coloured with a black centre, they
have a thin stalk and are quite flowery in appearance also they
appear to be sending out some sort of runner for reproduction
although I'm not sure. <Again, I'm really
not sure.> I'm constantly amazed with all the different
creatures coming out of my live rock! <Amazing isn't it?>
I'm pretty new to marine life and find it
fascinating. <Yes.> There's a creature in
there too that I can't get a picture of, it looks like
approximately 5 small stripy tentacles hanging out of my rock about
5mm long, it keeps moving round the rock and popping up in
different locations. <Likely a Striped Micro Brittle
Star (Ophiactis) or an mini serpent Star (Amphipholis) both
beneficial additions which will hopefully reproduce in you
system.> Anyway I hope someone can help me and I apologize for
the rubbish photographs! <Yes, Perhaps a camera with a macro
setting would help here. Though good idea to try the
magnifying glass. I realize these creatures are quite
tiny, but the photos, well, I wish they were a little
clearer.> I had a better one of the orange polyps
but it seems to have disappeared from my computer! <Ghost in the
machine?> My rock came from Fiji if that helps at all. Thanks in
advance <Welcome, Sorry I couldn't be of more
help. -Mich> Faye (In England) PS Have found that Red
Sea salt is rubbish the calcium is far too low hence why I have
changed to Instant Ocean, much better! <Noted.> |
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| Aiptasia or Tube Anemone? Neither, ID Feather
Duster 2/28/07 <Hi Dan, Mich with you tonight.> I
really hate asking you another tube anemone or Aiptasia anemone
question, after reading so much on your site. But none
of the pics available really matched this. <Is neither an
Aiptasia nor a tube anemone> This is white, comes out of a tube,
and so far is the only "Visible" one in the display.
<Is a Polychaete worm, a Sabellid, commonly called a fan worm or
feather duster. I am hoping it is a tube
anemone, but fearing it is Aiptasia. It moves pretty
quickly into its tube when a fish comes around it. My
copperband swims right by and ignores it. <That
good. Feather dusters are a welcome addition to your
tank.> Thanks for a better ID, and sorry for wasting your time
if it turns out it is Aiptasia. <No worries, never a waste,
always best to know what you're dealing
with. -Mich> DanH |
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Live creatures of some sort,
someplace... 2/28/07 <Hi there, Mich here.> I keep
seeing live "worms" in my tank. They float around
and sometimes attach to the sides for a while. They are
slightly thicker than a hair and about 1/2 cm in length. Are
they dangerous? (All my levels are normal according to the
"dipstick.") <Ummm, yeah, so uh, where to
begin. I haven't quite mastered those psychic powers yet
so I'll have to say I'm not even sure if you have a fresh or a
salt water tank here. If you can provide a little more
information, and perhaps a photo, someone may be able to help you
figure out what you are dealing with. -Mich>
Thanks!
Look's like a Chiton - about 6 inches...
images an order of magnitude too large... PLEASE> FOLLOW
DIRECTIONS!!! -- 2/26/07 I own a copy of your book as it
saved me when I first got my tank from making a lot of
mistakes. I have elevated my knowledge in the last year
alone and added two more tanks to my system and have used some GARF
products to help to boost my tanks performance. <Brad,
you've crashed our server...> We had a power outage for over
24 hours and I kept as many of my fish alive as
possible. In the end I lost two including a black clown
that was being eaten by a crab in the picture. I usually
would not let the crab eat a fish, but I wanted him to leave the
sluggish tired fish alone in the tank as my batteries had run out
and a generator was still hours away. I found this critter doing a
hot lap past the crab and clown that appeared to be a
chiton. I was curious though as it changed color to a
darker brown and kind of green one subsection at a time right as it
approached the crab eating the fish. I watched in
anticipation, but in the end it just kept scooting on out of
site. I have never seen this guy before and he is fairly
substantial in size. I took 32 pictures of this guy,
these are some of the clearer ones since I was shooting through the
gals of the tank. I didn't want to take him out
since he appeared harmless to my tank inhabitants. That
is until proven guilty as I have been removing Zoos from this tank
since they were not fairing well for some reason? Let me know what
you think,
Brad
<Is a Chiton. Bob Fenner> |
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Tunicate or what?? The Answer Would be
"or What." 2/23/07 Hi <Hello Judy,
Mich with you tonight.> I've been reading your forum for
over a year since I first started my Fish with Live Rock
Tank. Yesterday I bought your book - Reef Invertebrates
(great book!) hoping to find a critter I first found several months
ago but no luck. <A beautiful informative
book, I'd agree.> It is on my live rock, at times just a
tiny pin-point of a white belly-button. Then it will
open almost like a flower; when fully open it is a bit less than
1/8" across. When startled, it will close back up
and just look like a very tiny white speck. It opens in
both light and in the dark. This is a picture I found on the web at
this website: http://depts.washington.edu/fhlk12/StudentProjects/Tun.biology.html
<OK.> Tunicates covering rope My
little "thing" looks about like the white flower in the
middle except mine is on the live rock and when it
'disappears' it is nearly impossible to see. <If it
moves, is not a Tunicate.> <<If it is the "yellow
thing" with two apparent vents... this is a
Tunicate/Ascidian... do not "walk", but many species
can/do shrink/expand appreciably. RMF>> I just love it .
I'd like to know what it is. <It sounds like a polyp of some
sort or possibly an anemone, sorry I can't be more helpful
here.> Thanks.
Judi
<Welcome, -Mich> |
| Re: Tunicate or what?? The Answer
Would be "or What." 2/25/07 Thanks for
the fast reply. <You're quite welcome.>
I'll go look for info on polyps and anemones. <The photo you
supplied was that of a known tunicate, but not that of the actual
creature in your tank. The behavior you described
"opens almost like a flower" and "When
startled, it will close back up and just look like a very tiny
white speck" sounds more like the actions of a polyp or
anemone to me. That being said, Bob did note on the
daily FAQ's page the following: "If it is the 'yellow
thing' with two apparent vents... this is a
Tunicate/Ascidian... do not "walk", but many species
can/do shrink/expand appreciably. RMF." There are
many possibilities here. If you can get a decent macro
shot of your actual creature, someone may be able to provide an
ID. Otherwise it's just more of a
guess. Good Luck! -Mich> Judi |
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| White root like plant? algae?
Bryozoan 2/22/07 Hello guys! Hope you are all well
today. Just a quick question and here are a few pictures as well.
<Okay> The tank is a 33 gallon with 38 lbs of Fiji live rock.
The LR was taken from an established 210G that was being
dismantled, it was a steal at $4 a pound. The rock was out of the
water for under an hour and it's barely produced much of a
cycle. After two weeks of no traces of ammonia nor nitrite, only 10
ppm nitrates the first week, we added a clean up crew with an
assortment of astrea, margarita and Nassarius snails and also some
blue leg and left handed hermits. We cleaned off any die-off from
the rock before we placed it in the tank but these white root like
things have stayed and there are probably about 5-10 different root
things over all the rock combined. Each one ranges from about 1/4
inch tall to 3/4 inch tall at the biggest. I haven't been able
to find any mention of these root things on the internet...please
help! I hope the pictures help with the identification. Thanks very
much for your time! Eva <My first guess is some sort of
Bryozoan... second is perhaps a "stringy" sort of
sponge... In either case, not deleterious... and will likely pass
in a few months... succession. Bob Fenner> |
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Dendro spawn, Nope...Tunicate
2/22/07 Dear WWM, <Hello Joe! Mich here.> Such
a great site for reference. <Glad you think so!>
I have a Dendro coral with 7 heads that has been in my tank for 2
1/2 months. I have been waiting for it to produce a new
head on the colony, but no luck. It doesn't help
that I have an Aiptasia on it, had 2 one crawled off and I sucked
it up, and Valonia on it. <Yikes!> However, a
close look on my porites Christmas rock not too far away revealed a
small orange thing. It is oval, clear with an orange
tint, and looks to have 2 small holes on the top. I have
not seen any tentacles. We did have an ice storm where
the power was off for several hours, wrapped the tank in towels to
keep warm and only lost a degree. Could it be a
spawned baby, and is this one of the stages the planula larvae goes
through. Thank you for your time. Attached
are 2 photos. <Sorry no baby here. Looks like a
Tunicate or sea squirt to me. More here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ascidfaqs.htm http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ascidians.htm -Mich>
-Joe |
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| Photo i.d. 2/18/07 Hi all. Hope you can
help me correctly identify. Tampa Bay, Florida U.S.A. Thanks, <A
sponge, Poriferan of some sort. BobF> |
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