Please help identifying some of these critters please! Safe? Unsafe? THANKS!!

doyree · 09/20/2013, 12:34 PM

Hi

I'm new to hobby (approximately 2-3 weeks) and I have some questions to ask to experts if they don't mind.

I did lot of googling to identify however, I reached to a limit where I need advice.

In my tank, I put in used (live) rocks and sand and there it came with lot of hitchikers.

Obviously, I'm not worried about normal snails and hermit crabs but there are some weird looking things that I need help with. Whether I should rid of these or safe to keep them in the tank.

Here are some pics that I took.

Please! experts out there, help me identify them and whether I should keep or trash.

Thank you!!

1. It's got hairy tentacles and the tentacles move but I don't their body moves. The tentacles are approximately 1" long.
I IDed it to be brittle star which is a good hitchiker but I could be wrong.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840349105/

2. Trail about dark brownish, soft coating. Under the coating, there are tiny beads that appears to be eggs or some sort

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840349445/

3. I identified this to be Ritteri Anemone. It's about 6-7" long when it contracts at night but under light, it opens about almost about 4-5" wide.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840372656/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840372276/

4. I identified these to be baby sun coral, which is a good thing but who knows.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840439893/

5. Weird looking anemone/coral thing. It's about half inch wide and it's got strong grab. I dropped a rubber band once on it by accident and it grabbed it tight before I yanked it out of him.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840440503/

6. This came attached to a hermit crab I bought at LFS. Then it relocated to here. I'm thinking it's aiptasia which is a bad thing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840371946/

7. I got bunch of these cocoons. about 5 of them. They look like spider eggs but I can't google these little buggers. In the picture, it's right in the middle and on the bottom right side as well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840328144/

8. It looks like mushroom coral but again, I could be wrong.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840439663/

9. Soft coral it seems. It's alive and I buried it in the sand but my abalone keeps on digging him out from the sand at night.
It looks somewhat like dead man finger but the color isn't the same.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840881763/

10. Hard coral and it's attached to the disk. I found it buried under sand When I got it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840771784/

11. Finally, there's a crab, very tiny hiding inside a rock all the time so I coudn't get any pictures of him. He looks exactly like emeral crab that I have but it's redish in color. It's about 1" wide and half inch deep. I IDed it to be gorilla crab which is a bad thing but I could be wrong.

Help me IDing these critters please!!

TIA!!

Anemone · 09/20/2013, 02:59 PM

1) - mini brittle starfish - good
2) - sponge - not a problem
3) - looks more like a bleached Rose BTA
4) - Don't know. Sun Corals (Tubastrea) have skeletons. Do these have hard skeletons.
5) - pseudocorynactis - Most likely what is known as a ball anemone. They sell larger ones in the hobby, but the ones we get as hitchhikers generally remain small and stay in shaded and out of the way areas. If this has a skeleton, then it's actually something called a "hidden cup coral," which sometimes comes in as a hitchhiker on Caribbean rock.
6) - looks like aiptasia. Kill it before you have multiples.
7) - sponges
8) - looks like a blob. Possibly a mushroom leather, but can't really see if it has polyps with tentacles or not in your picture. Potentially, this could be a lot of things.
9) - impossible to tell from the picture. No structure really visible.
10) - looks like a coral skeleton. I don't see any living flesh.
11) - can't ID the crab without a picture. In general, hitchhiking crabs are bad. They have no way of IDing their food without scraping or tearing it off of what it is currently attached to. This is generally bad for corals, and as these crabs get bigger, can be bad for small fish as well.

Kevin

doyree · 09/20/2013, 05:15 PM

Kevin,

Thank you so much for your reply.
I'm gonna kill the aiptasia right now that you have clarified it for me.

Again, thank you so much!

09/20/2013, 12:34 PM	#1
doyree Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 7	Please help identifying some of these critters please! Safe? Unsafe? THANKS!! Hi I'm new to hobby (approximately 2-3 weeks) and I have some questions to ask to experts if they don't mind. I did lot of googling to identify however, I reached to a limit where I need advice. In my tank, I put in used (live) rocks and sand and there it came with lot of hitchikers. Obviously, I'm not worried about normal snails and hermit crabs but there are some weird looking things that I need help with. Whether I should rid of these or safe to keep them in the tank. Here are some pics that I took. Please! experts out there, help me identify them and whether I should keep or trash. Thank you!! 1. It's got hairy tentacles and the tentacles move but I don't their body moves. The tentacles are approximately 1" long. I IDed it to be brittle star which is a good hitchiker but I could be wrong. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840349105/ 2. Trail about dark brownish, soft coating. Under the coating, there are tiny beads that appears to be eggs or some sort http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840349445/ 3. I identified this to be Ritteri Anemone. It's about 6-7" long when it contracts at night but under light, it opens about almost about 4-5" wide. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840372656/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840372276/ 4. I identified these to be baby sun coral, which is a good thing but who knows. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840439893/ 5. Weird looking anemone/coral thing. It's about half inch wide and it's got strong grab. I dropped a rubber band once on it by accident and it grabbed it tight before I yanked it out of him. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840440503/ 6. This came attached to a hermit crab I bought at LFS. Then it relocated to here. I'm thinking it's aiptasia which is a bad thing. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840371946/ 7. I got bunch of these cocoons. about 5 of them. They look like spider eggs but I can't google these little buggers. In the picture, it's right in the middle and on the bottom right side as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840328144/ 8. It looks like mushroom coral but again, I could be wrong. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840439663/ 9. Soft coral it seems. It's alive and I buried it in the sand but my abalone keeps on digging him out from the sand at night. It looks somewhat like dead man finger but the color isn't the same. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840881763/ 10. Hard coral and it's attached to the disk. I found it buried under sand When I got it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/102516217@N06/9840771784/ 11. Finally, there's a crab, very tiny hiding inside a rock all the time so I coudn't get any pictures of him. He looks exactly like emeral crab that I have but it's redish in color. It's about 1" wide and half inch deep. I IDed it to be gorilla crab which is a bad thing but I could be wrong. Help me IDing these critters please!! TIA!!

09/20/2013, 02:59 PM	#2
Anemone Cloning Around Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Valencia, California Posts: 25,267	1) - mini brittle starfish - good 2) - sponge - not a problem 3) - looks more like a bleached Rose BTA 4) - Don't know. Sun Corals (Tubastrea) have skeletons. Do these have hard skeletons. 5) - pseudocorynactis - Most likely what is known as a ball anemone. They sell larger ones in the hobby, but the ones we get as hitchhikers generally remain small and stay in shaded and out of the way areas. If this has a skeleton, then it's actually something called a "hidden cup coral," which sometimes comes in as a hitchhiker on Caribbean rock. 6) - looks like aiptasia. Kill it before you have multiples. 7) - sponges 8) - looks like a blob. Possibly a mushroom leather, but can't really see if it has polyps with tentacles or not in your picture. Potentially, this could be a lot of things. 9) - impossible to tell from the picture. No structure really visible. 10) - looks like a coral skeleton. I don't see any living flesh. 11) - can't ID the crab without a picture. In general, hitchhiking crabs are bad. They have no way of IDing their food without scraping or tearing it off of what it is currently attached to. This is generally bad for corals, and as these crabs get bigger, can be bad for small fish as well. Kevin __________________ Back in the pool, swimming with the sharks... Current Tank Info: Red Sea 425XL w/Kessil AP700, Vertex 180i Skimmer, 2 x Vortech MP40s

09/20/2013, 05:15 PM	#3
doyree Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 7	Kevin, Thank you so much for your reply. I'm gonna kill the aiptasia right now that you have clarified it for me. Again, thank you so much!