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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification
17 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 14,
Non-Vert IDs 15,
Non-Vert IDs 16,
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 & 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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I'll take some of that! |
What is it? 11/14/06
I know you get overloaded with “what is this creature?” questions.
However, I have browsed your webpage and only become more confused on
whether it is some type of worm, snail or slug. I just noticed him
crawling around the live rock a few days ago and our tank is over 2
years old. He has two small antennas, and what looks like a soft type
shell on his back. You can also see in the second picture a very obvious
sucker and is about 1 inch in size. I am assuming he came in with the
live rock and has just matured enough to be seen.
I am just curious, any suggestions would be helpful.
I always like to tell those who look in my tank what is there.
Thank you
Shannon
<Does it have a shell? Maybe a Stomatella Michelle says... Eric doesn't
see the shell, thinks it's a Nudibranch... Me? I've had too many Kona
Brews to tell... BobF> |
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Re: what is it? 11/15/06
Dear "crew",
Ok, I'll look up some pictures of a Stomatella. I have never heard of those, a
few more faq's on Stomatella's would be great. It does have a shell. The little
creature showed up again last night and I reached in to touch him and there is a
hard shell on his back.
Shannon
<Mmm, use your search tool/s on/off WWM with the genus name... Plenty there. Bob
Fenner>
Re: Re: what is it? 11/15/06
Thank you for heading me in the right direction. After doing some more
research on a Stomatella, I am 100% sure I have a Stomatellid. However, I am a
bit concerned because the posting that lead me to this critters name was about
how they had over run a tank.
Is this a problem I should be concerned about?
<Mmm, highly unlikely>
Since I have one, are there probably more that came in with the live rock. How
big will he become?
<Not too large... not a problem>
It seems otherwise he will be a good cleaner for the tank and I should just let
him go about his business.
Your thoughts and any other facts on stomatellids would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Shannon
<Mmm, the Net... Bob Fenner>
Unknown Creature - 11/11/06
Hi,
<<Hello>>
I love your site.
<<Thanks!>>
I recently noticed hundreds of tiny white creatures on the glass walls of my
tank.
<<Cool>>
They are smaller than the head of a pin and are barely visible under a low
powered microscope.
<<Copepods likely>>
I sent a small picture of one of them.
<<Mmm yes, a drawing actually...but a good/descriptive drawing>>
Sorry if the picture is vague but it was all I was able to see.
<<Enough to go on/venture a guess>>
I know that there are probably many types of certain species but is there a
certain group you can put this organism in?
<<Indeed...I believe it to be a Harpacticoid...a copepod>>
Is it possible to tell if it is harmful or not?
<<These are beneficial, even desirable organisms. Many of the creatures you
keep will consume these very quickly>>
Thanks for any help you can give me,
Michael
<<Happy to share. Eric Russell>>
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Help with IDs on weird things in my tank
11/6/06
Hey WWM Crew :)
<Howdy>
I admire the bejeebers out of y'all and appreciate your help.
I've asked the folks at the LFS about some of these things, and they
don't seem to know. One senior guy suggested that we should get an
arrow crab to get them
<Them?>
out of the tank but upon further research, an arrow crab would probably
be a bad thing.
First the details:
90 gallon Oceanic Bowfront with 30 gal sump below including refugium and
in-sump skimmer. Bio Bale to reduce noise.
Lighting is an Orbit SunPaq Dual Daylight (10,000K & 6,700K), Dual
Actinic (460nm & 420nm) and Lunar Light strip.
Temp is maintained 79-80
Salinity is 1.026 measured with refractometer
Nitrates - 0
Nitrites - 0
Phosphates - 0 - we use a Phosphate Reactor
Ammonia - 0
Calcium 400
KH - 125
<?>
To double check my own test, I took a sample down to the LFS yesterday -
they use a totally different brand of test - to confirm. Water was all
good, Ph was slightly low at 8, resolving with buff.
But, I have these weird things in my tank. The first I removed after
watching it play now you see me, now you don't. From everything I've
been able to find, and lacking knowing what it is, that is a very small
amount, it's some kind of bad sponge.
http://www.webspecialty.com/aquarium/whatzit1.jpg
Next, these sponges??
<... seem to be...>
have started growing under one rock. I found one kind on your site,
seems innocuous but the big puffy things may be Ascidian??
<Possibly>
That means I don't know. But they're spreading and I'm wondering if
they're good or bad and if they should go. http://www.webspecialty.com/aquarium/sponges.jpg
The one on the bottom - close-up - is here
http://www.webspecialty.com/aquarium/sponge2.jpg
Now, on to the worms?? I've searched and searched. The guy at the LFS
looked at this picture and said these were bad and suggested the arrow
crab. But I've watched them, they really don't come out much, they
never seem to bother the corals, and there are countless scads of them
in the tank. http://www.webspecialty.com/aquarium/stripeworm.jpg
The next worms are different. They come out in the dark or when the
actinic only is on. They're soft, white and sway a lot.
http://www.webspecialty.com/aquarium/whiteworm.jpg They are also
numerous in numbers and come out of the sand as well. As with the other
worms?? They don't seem to bother the corals.
<I wouldn't worry re these worms... or make overt movements to remove
them>
But something is bothering the corals. They seem to do great for months
and suddenly crash. Somebody suggested that a hermit crab walking on it
might cause it to die. We have two skunk shrimp, one peppermint shrimp
and a number of hermit crabs, two emerald crabs, one strawberry crab and
snails.
So I guess what I'm asking is are these good critters or bad
critters? The fish in the tank are a regal tang (huge, trying to
catch), an orchid Dottyback, one azure damsel, 3 firefish, 1 Banggai
cardinal, 1 yellow wrasse. As long as the big tang is in the tank, we
have problems as it likes to rearrange corals and rocks and knocks
things over a lot. We have very few corals, a pineapple coral, a candy
cane coral, a tree leather coral suddenly not doing well, several
mushroom polyps, assorted polyps and grape coral, and some xenia that
are morphs of their former beautiful selves.
Any help would be deeply appreciated. I sent links vs. attaching photos
to make it easier for y'all.
<Thanks>
A thousand thank yous for your attention and response,
Lisa
<Welcome in kind. Bob Fenner> |
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Little Piles of Sand - 10/21/06
Hi.
<<Hello>>
Just a quick question for you.
<<Okay>>
I just recently noticed, this week, small piles of sand popping up. I was
curious which creature in my tank could be making these.
<<Maybe a species of worm or small sand-dwelling crustacean>>
We've had our tank for a year now and never have seen this before.
<<Possibly newly introduced on live rock/coral additions>>
The livestock we have is:
Mandarin goby
Powder blue tang
2 clown fish
Dwarf lionfish
Purple Gramma
Picasso trigger
Bi-color blenny
And finally we did recently add a very small zebra eel (oops forgot to add) we
also have 2 cleaner shrimp, a couple turbo snails and a few hermit crabs.
<<Mmm, am curious as to the size of this tank. I suspect long-term overcrowding
here>>
If you have the time, we'd love to find out what could be making these piles all
of the sudden.
<<Perhaps you can provide a picture to help?>>
PS - we did change some rock around a few months back and a very very tiny
brittle sea star came crawling out but have never seen him again.
<<Probably still around...these ophiuroids are not fond of the light>>
Thanks for your time!
Sincerely,
Olivia Mendonca
<<Regards, Eric Russell>>
You have new Picture Mail! And Crap English!
- 09/14/06
Hey yous, great site yous got here, I spend lots of hours
just checkin things out. Well I'll be short with this question,
what the heck is this? found it in my refugium this morning on
the glass in the skimmer section. tank is only up and running
three months,75 gal, 100 lbs of live rock, 3 inches of live
sand, two damsels so far and apparently this thing, your help
would be appreciated, thank you,,, Chris..P.S sorry for the pic
its from my cell phone.
<... bizarre... but looks like a terrestrial larval insect... of
which there are exceedingly few that are marine (though quite a
few that are freshwater). This is likely a juvenile polychaete
worm. BobF> |
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Bryozoans? - 09/06/06
Hi Folks,
<<Jan>>
As usual, thanks so much for the great service that you provide!!
You & your website have become an indispensable component in my
efforts to create a happy & balanced tank.
<<We're pleased you find the site useful>>
This stuff (see attached photo) has started growing in my tank,
which is a new tank (since May 2006). I have no idea what it is.
<<Mmm, the picture could be a bit closer...is difficult to
discern...>>
Can you help?
<<I have three guesses here Jan...this looks to be either a species
of hydroid, in which case you may want to take action to
remove...or, more likely I suspect, a species of Bryozoan, in which
case you can sit back and enjoy while they last...and my last guess
would be a species of sponge, also no reason for concern>>
Thanks,
Jan
<<Quite welcome. EricR>> <My guess is with Eric's. Likely Bryozoan
colonies. RMF> |
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Orange Hair-Like Things - 09/04/06
Hello crew!
<<Hey Josh!>>
Just a real quick question.
<<Okey-Dokey>>
I noticed last night on the live rock next to my clam, there are several very
very small hair-like things... worms maybe?
<<Good possibility>>
They are orange and all come out of the same spot, almost like tentacles.
<<Ah, yes...a Serpulid worm possibly...or maybe even the arms of a small serpent
or brittle starfish>>
Are they bad?
<<No>>
Are they going to injure the clam?
<<No>>
One is almost touching the small foot of the clam. I moved him temporally until
I hear back from you. Thanks...
<<I don't think you have anything to be concerned about here>>
Josh Henley
<<Regards, Eric Russell>>
Some new tank mates: who might they be? 9/1/06
Hello crew.
<James!>
New discovery number 1 looks like a sand dollar; or at least is round, flat and
about double the size of the tiny gray/white starfish that seem to proliferate
like weeds.
<Mmm, might be these... Asterina>
I put the size at about maybe 6mm but I never get a great look. What I have seen
looks like an amber color. The substrate came from the Caribbean. What other
flat critters would fit the bill?
<A bunch... mainly mollusks, echinoderms...>
I had never seen a live one before.
New discovery number 2 looks like a jellyfish. This was discovered while
cleaning the tank. It was extremely small and I would put the size of the
‘medusoid’ form at about 3-4mm in diameter. The color was a translucent white. I
don’t recall seeing anything resembling tentacles. Are there any desirable coral
larvae that fit this description? If not when seen again I shall remove.
<Pix please>
Wish I had pictures but there was no getting to the camera in time.
<... maybe next time>
A note for Bob (please pass it on if you would): I don’t know if you are still
in NJ, I couldn’t make it down to Jenkins for the NJ Reef gathering. I would
have loved to have been there.
Thank you.
James A. Zimmer
<Sorry to have missed you. "Lost" your contact info. (either the ISP server
deleted from being "old" or somehow I clicked it off... just stayed in/around
Belmar... but a hoot! BobF>
Re: Some new tank mates: who might they be? 9/2/06
Awwww =(
Unfortunate, but it happens with computers all the time. Just be glad it wasn't
catastrophic hard drive failure... been there and OUCH (even with backup data)!
<Yeeikes... I try to be diligent re backing up to a remote HD... every month and
before long trips>
I had a continuation of events that left me more than drained so I am unsure
about how I would have made it down to Belmar and been coherent. They are now
about 1/2 solved.
<Only half way to go!>
Assuredly, we shall have a chance to get together on another occasion I am sure.
It would have been nice to sit and have a few beers and chat though.
For future reference:
James Zimmer
I have seen neither of the two critters I mentioned in this email since I
wrote... I will be diligent and take pictures if at all possible. I thought the
'jellyfish-like' form was just a shell from an amphipod at first but then I
noticed it was round and more jelly-fish like.
James
<Mmm, still... many possibilities. BobF>
Small eel? 8/25/06
Last night, after the lights were out, and we were heading to bed, my
husband checked our 55 gallon tank again. He then asked me if I knew anything
about a small worm-like thing that could swim in the current. After watching it
for a few minutes, we decided to try and net it to remove it from the tank. It
was surprisingly easy to catch, and we put it in a small Tupperware type
container.
Taking a closer look at it, it swims like an eel, is about a three quarters of
an inch to an inch long, white in color, with a bluish tip (about an eighth of
an inch long) to the tail. Under a magnifying glass, it appears to have a
ridge/fin down it's spine.
Our tank inhabitants are: 1 clownfish, 5 blue/green chromis. 1 lawnmower blenny,
1 mandarin, and 2 clown gobies. Plus of course, the cleanup crew, and coral.
We put the unknown fella into our quarantine tank for now, until we can
hopefully get an ID on him. My digital camera should be returned to me next
week, so I can hopefully get a picture of him. Any help with ID in the meantime
would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jenn
<Is likely a worm species of some sort... there are many, and a bunch of these
do "come out" at night... Look closely at some nighttime feeding video of Manta
Rays... should be on the Net... Youtube.com... see all that swimming wiggling
worm-like plankton? Bingo. Not likely harmful. Bob Fenner>
Marine "Rolly-Poly" Bug - 08/06/06
Hi Guys,
<<And gals...Morning to ya>>
I found a critter in my tank and am loss as to what to do with it. It is about
1" long with a hard oval 'shell' on it's back the size of a small fingernail
with a few faint stripes. It has two long thin antenna and several short spiky
protrusions. The underside appears to be flat and snail like. It glides along
and will roll up into a ball when dislodged.
<<Mmm, sounds like a species of Chiton...likely nothing to be concerned with>>
I currently have it sitting on the counter in it's own bottle of H2O and will
give it a bubbler till I hear from you as to whether it goes back or is a pest I
don't want. I did look up on the site but didn't see any pics or descriptions
that looked similar.
<<Can't be certain without a positive ID, but I would place back in the system
and observe, enjoy...can remove if it "proves" to be "unfriendly">>
Thanks,
Nancy
<<Regards, EricR>>
Re: Marine "Rolly-Poly" Bug - 08/07/06
Thanks.
<<Welcome>>
I just put the little guy back in and he promptly crawled off.
Guess he is glad to be home.
<<Indeed...I have dozens (hundreds maybe) of Chitons in my system...no more
destructive to fauna than Astrea snails in my experience...and better
bioturbators...>>
Nancy
<<Regards, EricR>>
Anemone ID... No, but... 8/3/06
I looked through all of your postings on the Anemone ID pages. After
browsing the Cnidarian pages, I'm not even sure this is an Anemone.
<Many closely resembling Cnidarian groups...>
I didn't see any photos of this one, though I did see a roughly hand drawn
picture on the top of the AnenomeID1 page. Unfortunately I couldn't find it
again with an actual description. Also, it looks similar to the fuzzy picture
at the top of the
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cnididfaqs5.htm page, but I couldn't get a
definitive answer on what this is. Really, I just want to know if this is
something I should kill or not.
<?... then not>
This was the first one I noticed (shortly after tank cycled, about 4 mo ago),
but there have been 2-3 others that popped up in the last couple months, and
probably another ten in the month since then.
<Mmm... define a "pest", "weed"... an undesirable organism... in too great a
prominence, number... crowding out other life, utilizing more than space that
you'd like to have dedicated else/other wise>
The biggest one is about 1/2" at the most. I had this same type of thing in
my 55 gallon FOWLR tank last year, and a peppermint shrimp and increased
Kalkwasser completely eliminated them. (I tried to pick them off for several
weeks, but they kept coming back).
Here are the photos, but they are a little fuzzy. The organism in question has
a meaty base, with little tufts of "hair" sticking out of it's top.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/russjohnson/album?.dir=/1cabre2&.src=ph&.tok=p
hx2sRFBaYcBoHDP
<Blurry... looks somewhat like an ascidian to me...>
I also have a question about glass anemones. Some of the postings seem to
indicate that they appear and disappear. They are not (very) mobile, right?
<Correct>
The reason I ask is that I have what, until I started trying to ID this attached
anemone, I had what I thought were tiny jellyfish or some other hydroid on the
front of the tank.
<Might be>
I'm still rather certain that that's what these are, because they dart around
the tank with incredible speed, an they looked just like the photos of the
hydromedusae, Staurocladia oahuensis.
Thanks a million!!
Rusty
<... They're this mobile? Than not anemones or ascidians. Please send along
clearer, larger resolved image/s. Bob Fenner>
Re: Anemone ID... No, but... 8/3/06
No, the little buggers scooting around the tank were a completely different
organism, which I identified as probably a "Staurocladia oahuensis",
obviously, not a Cnidarian nor an Anemone. You confirmed that they could not be
glass anemones for me as they were much too mobile.
<Ah, yes... sorry for the confusion. Have/had just come in from a red-eye flight
from HI... should stay off the Net till rested>
I re-read your email a couple times, and I wasn't clear if you were asking ME to
define "pest" or "weed".
Is it a correct assumption that you are saying this organism is a pest organism?
<Mmm, no... trying to make a point, and yes to asking... about what constitutes
such... i.e. what is a pest/weed?>
If so, could you recommend how to get rid of them? In my FOWLR tank, I picked
up a Peppermint shrimp, which seemed to help along with increased flow and
Kalkwasser additions. This is a Reef tank, so I'm not sure that I want to toss
a Peppermint Shrimp in there, because in my (now) FOWLR tank, the Peppermint
shrimp ate my mushroom
corals.
Anyway, if you think the organisms in the photos are detrimental, could you give
me some pointers in getting rid of them? Physical removal isn't realistic.
Thanks again,
Rusty
<Mmm, please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/cav1i3/aiptasia_impressions/aiptaisia_impressions.htm
and the linked files at bottom... About the same tech. Bob Fenner, still sleepy,
slow and fuzzy>
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Sponges and tunicates... UnID-able invertebrates
7/22/06
Hello, I have been debating if I should send these photos or not but
as you can see.... I am wondering about this bright yellow sponge
looking creature. It has many fiber looking parts all of which
spontaneously began growing on a piece of LR with a glove polyp (healthy
and growing). Also, there have been these strange clear, spiral-shaped
egg sacs being deposited every night on the same glove polyp
colony--what is this from?
<Likely a mollusk of some sort...>
No QT for this one specimen, I was soo excited :-( . Anyway I have also
included a photo of a tunicate which is very cool!! Do you know what
kind it is? The tunicate has an orange body with white rimmed openings.
<Mmm, can barely make out this solitary animal...>
Ok, next question is about a set of openings in my live rock. They are
almost perfectly round and each opening looks like a pair of conjoined
circles, out of these often comes some sort of light, touch, current
sensitive pink creature with small black marks around each of its
openings along with small cilia looking protrusions circumfronting each
of the two openings. I have two of these and they come out often just to
the edge of the LR opening--what are they?
<Can't tell from this description>
Next, in the same piece of LR I have something with 8 white tentacle
looking arms (each one looks like a succession of lambda signs) when
this creature is out it is constantly bringing one arm at a time back
into the live rock as if to feed whatever is at the end of those strange
arms. HELP!! Thank you for your time, REALLY!!
<All sound neat... would enjoy them... as it seems you are! Cheers, Bob
Fenner> |
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