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FAQs about Non-Vertebrate Animal Identification 3
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 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 IDs11,
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 & 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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- Algae and Other Stuff -
Hey Guys, great website. I had a question concerning new life in
my tank. I have a 12 gallon SW tank that I've had for one year now,
and its been a happy year (knock on wood). I have good purple algae
coloration on much of my live rock, but lately a few new things have pooped
up. There are small red bubbles, many with yellow tips forming on the
purple algae, and some small red spot forming on other parts of the
rocks. A darker, almost oily looking, purple spot has grown over some
of the rock. <That all sounds like BGA to me - Cyanobacteria. Read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm
> There are also some very skinny, brittle white tubes with strings coming
out of them, that can reel in the strings at times. <That is probably a
Serpulid worm. See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/polychaetes.htm
>
Lastly, there is a see thru tube shaped item, that looks like a long tube filled
balloon, that is emersed in the rock, could this be an air bubble? <Not
sure.> Its almost metallic, very strange. <Could be Valonia, bubble algae.
See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/greenalg.htm>
Anyways, I was wondering if any of these new "friends" were bad for my
tank. <I think mostly good. I wouldn't worry about anything but the algae.
The Valonia, if that's what it is can get out of hand if it's removed
carelessly, the BGA can also get out of hand, can usually be addressed with
improved circulation.> I do 1/4 water changes weekly. Thanks a
lot, Sincerely Jon
<Cheers, J -- >
-Live Rock Hitchhiker's!-
Hello Saltwater Gurus,
I have a 4 month old 120gallon Reef tank, I have been very slow adding
inhabitants, and have been amazed by the flora and fauna appearing on the
live rock.<And it will only get better!>
I have two ID questions, and 1 general question. I will start
with the general question.
I have a 20 gallon refugium which, after the addition of Chaetomorpha, has
controlled the phosphate issues in my setup. <Excellent, Chaetomorpha
is my favorite macro.> The Chaetomorpha has grown exponentially, and I
have already harvested a bunch to remove the nutrients from circulation,
and the algae has almost grown completely back filling a third of the
refugium. The algae is a completely amazing source of copepods
(I am pretty sure they are) which are to numerous to count in the
refugium, and they have made it into the main tank and are reaching large
populations. <Mmm... fish food...> I only have two Ocellaris
clownfish and one Bubbletip anemone, and the clownfish show no interest in
eating the copepods. Is there a danger in an unchecked copepod
population? <Should it get too large to sustain itself, it will crash
out. No worries for the tank though.> What type of fish would like to
eat these copepods? <The first fish that comes to mind is a mandarin dragonet,
which you should be able to sustain very well (you may have to start
feeding the 'fuge to really crank out the bugs though). Six and eight line
wrasses are pretty good pod chompers as well.>
Now, the two ID questions.
There is a "hitchhiker" anemone that resides directly next to
the spot my BTA has chosen for itself. It is about 1 inch in
length with spindly arms and a translucent body. I have
attached two pictures which are the best I could get. I believe
this may be an Aiptasia. If this is the case, it is the lone Aiptasia
that I can find in the tank. Do I need to destroy this small
anemone now? <YES> Or is it possible that it will not become a
nuisance with adequate nutrient export? <In theory yes, in practice,
no.> If it stays single, then I would like to keep it. <I would play
the odds and exterminate it, it's not worth having the other inhabitants
suffer in the future.>
Next, there is an animal that has grown on the live rock that appears to
be either a corallimorph or some form of anemone. It is a
"carpet" of tiny polyps that are less than 1/8" each, but
the entire colony is about 5 inches across. It has grown in an
awkward place to get pictures, but here is the best one I could get, with
the colony pointed to...any idea what this is? The polyps have not
increased in size, but the area covered by the colony is growing, so I do
not believe it is a carpet anemone. <Well, it's not an anemone, and
does not appear to be a soft coral. Although its impossible to tell
exactly what it is from the picture, I think it's safe to say that it's
some type of stony coral. It appears that most of the colony died in
transit and the growing part was the only part left alive. Could you get a
clearer picture?>
Thank you in advance for your time. <I hope this helps! -Kevin>
Kevin |
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Mediterranean Sea invertebrates references
Hi Bob,
<Hello George>
I am looking for some information on invertebrates from the Mediterranean sea. We have taken some photos and we would like to learn a bit more about them. I checked your book about the "Reef Invertebrates" but naturally there was not much in it. Do you know of any other reputable source ?? Book or website ?
<Do you have the IKAN/Debelius "Mediterranean and Atlantic Fish Guide"? Has Helmut redone it as a "Reef Guide" with invertebrates? There is a
bibliog.. in the back of the old edition (mostly fish related)... I would go to a large/college library and use the computer bibliographic tools to do a modern search for literature. Bob Fenner>
Thanks a lot in advance,
George J. Reclos Ph.D.
Odd mushroom, reference to new book 12/3/03
Bob, Anthony, et al
<whassup buttercup?>
again, excellent work on the "Reef Inverts" book... loving every page
of it so far.. and finally completed it front to back.
<much thanks... we're very glad to contribute>
found something very interesting on page 157 .. in the pic in lower right hand
corner of 'Clathria' species sponge, there is a lime green (mushroom?) just to
the left... I have something that looks very much like this but have never been
able to
find a good id on it..
<actually... the pictured organism looks like a small Cynarina stony coral to
me. But the corallimorph is unmistakable if true>
mine have the fleshy nodes but each end in a point (sort of talon like) and a
bright orange mouth in the center... seem to like light and do not take food
directly like some shrooms I've had before...
<hmmm... do see yours retract and try to discover if there is not some stony
corallum (look for the ridges of septa). If yours truly is a soft animal, then
perhaps a better pic of yours is needed here>
(though I suppose most do not anyway)
<not correct... shrooms are generally very heavy organismal feeders... its
the method of delivery that can be a challenge>
I have enclosed a pic to help in the identification .. (its not the best pic but
should give some shape characteristics) flesh looks very similar to one in your
pic referenced above..
<sorry Joe... the pic link is not working/clear to me. Can you resend as a
attachment?>
any pointers or ideas u may have would be appreciated...
<be chatting soon :) Anthony> |
Odd mushroom? 12/4/03
Anthony, thanks for the reply... here is pic again, hopefully this
will go thru .. if not I'll send from an alternate account. Thanks
Joe
<came through this time my friend... your creature is not a
corallimorph, but appears to be a small anemone species instead. Keep an
eye on it so that does not become a nuisance (if overfed by
nutrients/particles in the system). Very nice looking creature though :)
Anthony> |
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Critter ID
I was wondering if anyone can ID the following critter for me:
http://www.geocities.com/jtgilkeson/thing.html
I've nicknamed it "thing" (Adams family) as it looks like hand that
walks around. It walks around quite a bit, it moved from one side of
the tank to the other in less than a day...
The guesses so far from the WetWebFotos forum are:
Aiptasia or majano anemone
<I go with guess number two. Bob Fenner>
Thanks!
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- Little White Flower-looking Things on My Live Rock -
These just appeared yesterday on the rock. There are also
some purple mushrooms also. I sent a picture of them in the
email. I will explain what they look like also incase you are
having trouble seeing them. <My friend, I can't tell much of anything
from that picture.> They are white, and very small, short and skinny
white stalks. They do not seem to have any other
coloration on them. They can disappear totally into the rock. My flame
angel proved that. I looked at the nuisance anemone FAQ's
but I could not find anything in there to help me make a final
determination. I also looked at the Starr polyp FAQ's, and
there to I could not determine if they are that. So I went to
dogpile.com and typed in Aiptasia and found some pictures of brownish
anemones, I think I can rule them out. <Have seen something else like
this recently... have no idea what it "really" is but it is
certainly interesting. My guess is these might be hydroids - man I'd just
love to have a band by that name: They Might be Hydroids.> Then typed
in Star polyp and got some pictures of yellowish little stars mostly
overgrowing what looks to be sticks. Not totally dissimilar but
wrong colors and size. <That may change in time - will pay to keep a
sharp eye on things.> Then I thought hydroid, no such luck there either
so I thought I would send it along to you and maybe you would know.
<Not for certain, and my apologies for that.>
Thanks again Craig B.
<Cheers, J -- > |
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- ID This -
Gents -
After going through the FAQ's and postings with no success.....
I have these things that are still quite small, but appear to have
multiplied quite rapidly. My LFS wants to call them tunicates, but my wife
is sure that they're Aiptasia. They don't have the thick stalks like
typical Aip.., nor do they have the articulated & brownish coloring.
<I agree... certainly is polypoid... perhaps hydroids.>
Like anything else that multiples rapidly and for free, I imagine that
it's a nuisance, but I would like to keep it in the tank, if its growth
can be stemmed a bit. <Be cautious then about overfeeding the other
things in your tank. Typically populations reach a carrying capacity which
is limited by available foods, competition between like organisms.>
Thanks,
Ted.
<Cheers, J -- > |
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Pests
Hello, I was looking closely at my tank when my eyes came across these tiny
little creatures that look like brown shrimp or something. They are only about
the size of a grain of rice and there are at least a couple hundred of them and
they are all crawling on my live rock and I can sometimes see them in the sand. What
should I do? Are these guys harmful to my fish?<No these are most likely
copepods/amphipods and clean up a lot of detritus that is in the
sand/gravel.>Is there a need to exterminate?<Not at all!! Thank god for
pods!!! Good luck, IanB> Thanks
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Critter IDs Please, with photos attached
The first photo is of a worm that looks like a bristleworm, but has some
differences.
<agreed... is Polychaetous, but not specifically a
"bristleworm".>
Have seen this 3" worm on the glass of my 42 gal reef a
few times during the day. Doesn't look like a bristleworm because of the
"mop" head, and BWs don't usually come out in broad daylight. Photo
taken at 4:30 pm, just around feeding time. There appears to be no
damage to corals or fish in the reef this worm is in.
<I frankly have no idea what this worm is but am comfortable that most are overwhelmingly
safe if not useful as scavengers. You might send that pic to Dr Ron Shimek over
on ReefCentral.com (he has his own forum)>
The last three photos are of three bugs we sucked out of a well
established 72g reef in which had recently lost all our new fish, mostly dwarf
and larger angels.
<my friend... please (!) do be careful. Watch your own hands in this tank.
They are parasitic isopods and actually can nip/bite you. We have some data on
our wetwebmedia site about them as well as in our Reef Invertebrates book. Much
abroad on the net too about them. Treatment is possible but an effort>
Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the tank at
the time of the last fish death were 0 ppm. Had the flashlights out
the other night and these bugs were swimming about near the front glass, though
some were walking on the sandbed at times. Looks like some kind of isopod, but I
cannot say for sure from all the research I've done if they are parasitic or
not.
<they appear to be to me>
The bugs were about 1/8th of an inch in
length when first caught. Have since set up a 5g tank with LR, sandbed and
macroalgae from reefs that do not contain these bugs and have added a green Chromis
to determine if the bugs will infest the fish. Over the week the fish
has been in the 5g, the bugs have grown twice their original size, have been
seen on the glass and sandbed, and the Chromis remains healthy.
<the Chromis for now may be too small and/or fast>
Currently in the 72 gal, at night, there are pinhead
sized bugs on the glass that look like the young of the three bugs now in the
5g.
Can you please ID the worm?
<I'll call him Joey>
Also, can you tell from the photos of the bugs if they are parasitic?
<seems so yes>
If they are, I imagine a long period of time, say 2-4 months, without fish would
eliminate these bugs if they are parasitic and have no hosts.
<actually... they are on record going over 6 months and still surviving>
It has been 3 weeks since the last fish died. During the fallow
period I am continuing to feed the tank daily to maintain high levels of
nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria until the time we will stock the 72g with
fish again. TIA for your time and consideration. Beverly
<wishing you the best of luck my friend. Anthony>
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Thanks, Dr. Ron! (A Happy Ending)
Scott,
<Hi there again!>
I wanted to let you know that the bugs pics I sent you were IDed by Dr. Shimek
as sphaeromatids and are harmless. The Chromis in the 5g test tank
did not become infested with them in the three weeks they were
together. All is good :) Thanks for your time :)
Beverly Edmonton AB Canada
<Well, no one likes a happy ending more than me! Glad that Dr. Ron was able
to ID these little creatures for you! Onwards! Regards, Scott F.>
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Critter IDs Please 12/12/03
Anthony, I wanted to let you know that the bugs pics I sent you were IDed by
Dr. Shimek as sphaeromatids and are harmless. The Chromis in the 5g
test tank did not become infested with them in the three weeks they were
together. All is good :) Thanks for your time :)
<much thanks fo0r sharing this, Beverly. I will be sure to reference it and
consider. Thanks kindly, Anthony>
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Big White Pasty Milky Jelly looking Growth
I have a large white, pasty, milky, jelly looking growth under one of my
live rocks. I have just noticed it. I have been looking on
your pages and hope it is a sponge. I am not sure
though. Please HELP!!<It is probably just a sponge that resided
in/within your liverock and has just began to show itself. Lots of interesting
creatures come on LR...good luck my friend, IanB>
Thanks
James Ray
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Critter ID
Hello crew~
<howdy>
I have this stuff growing in my Live Sand bed the last couple of weeks, and
trying to figure it out. What you might not be able to see in the PIC
I am sending is very fine, inch or so long hairs growing out of it above the
sand line. Any ideas? Steve
<it is a harmless and desirable medusa worm (AKA Spaghetti worm)... they are detritivores. Pictured on pages 170 and 171 of our nifty "Reef
Invertebrates" book (Calfo and Fenner 2003). Anthony>
Red growth on rock 11/23/03
Had a question about leather corals. I bought a piece of Fiji live
rock that appears to have some sort of coral on it. It looks just
like the Fiji yellow leather coral but it is red in color. It seems
to only be about 1 inch long or so, and feels hard. It has been in my
aquarium for 3 months or so and still seems about the same color, although some Cyanobacteria
grew on it. When you touch it with your finger it is
prickly feeling, and then about a half hour later it feels like you have been
stung or like you have really fine needles in your finger. It also
seems like there is some of the same thing on the other side of the rock that is
not exposed to any light. If it is a skeleton of a dead coral
wouldn't it have lost the color. I appreciate your help very much!
Thank you!!
<it sounds like the growth is a sponge, as best I can tell... although I
picture would clarify this promptly if you can proffer one. I doubt from the
brief description you give that this is a leather coral. Be careful handling any
marine organisms with bare hands, there are a few uncommon but serious ailments
you can contract that way. Anthony>
Weird Jelly like substance
Hello again Crew, and thanks once again in advance for the serious
info you
provide! For the last couple weeks or so there has been a weird
jelly like
substance in the tank, on the live rock. It's been tough to
tell if it has been
growing or not. Any ideas?
<Yes. The greenish material in the middle of your pic is a sponge.
Please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/sponges.htm
Bob Fenner>
Steve |
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