What is this?

Coralz · 01/28/2007, 05:00 PM

Today when I was looking in my tank, I found some long skinny thing on my sea hare, can someone tell me what it is?

In the purple its the sea hare
In the red I don't know what it is
In the green its just a shell, the sea hare was just by it when I was taking the picture

LeslieH · 01/28/2007, 07:43 PM

Looks like a spoon worm, phylum Echiura. Normally they're tucked into crevices or in sediment with only the proboscis showing. What it's doing taking a ride on a sea hare is beyond me!

Coralz · 01/28/2007, 07:49 PM

I took the sea hare and the worm out of my tank. Will this affect my tank or anything?

LeslieH · 01/29/2007, 01:17 AM

I don't think so. Echiurans don't carry toxic compounds in their bodies (that I know of, could always be wrong) and neither do these sea hares.

When you took them out, did it look as if the worm was attached to the sea hare's body? It occurred to me that rather than an echiuroid the structure might actually be the animal's penis. I did some searching and found this post on the Sea Slug Forum which shows an aquarium Dolabella with an everted penis.
http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=14278

greenbean36191 · 01/29/2007, 08:17 AM

It's definitely the seahare's penis. This usually happens shortly before they die.

01/28/2007, 05:00 PM	#1
Coralz Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: MI Posts: 15	What is this? Today when I was looking in my tank, I found some long skinny thing on my sea hare, can someone tell me what it is? In the purple its the sea hare In the red I don't know what it is In the green its just a shell, the sea hare was just by it when I was taking the picture

01/28/2007, 07:43 PM	#2
LeslieH Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 3,178	Looks like a spoon worm, phylum Echiura. Normally they're tucked into crevices or in sediment with only the proboscis showing. What it's doing taking a ride on a sea hare is beyond me! __________________ Cheers, Leslie So many worms, so little time... Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

01/29/2007, 01:17 AM	#4
LeslieH Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 3,178	I don't think so. Echiurans don't carry toxic compounds in their bodies (that I know of, could always be wrong) and neither do these sea hares. When you took them out, did it look as if the worm was attached to the sea hare's body? It occurred to me that rather than an echiuroid the structure might actually be the animal's penis. I did some searching and found this post on the Sea Slug Forum which shows an aquarium Dolabella with an everted penis. http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=14278 __________________ Cheers, Leslie So many worms, so little time... Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

01/29/2007, 08:17 AM	#5
greenbean36191 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 10,598	It's definitely the seahare's penis. This usually happens shortly before they die. __________________ Some say the sun rises in the East. Some say it rises in the West. The truth must be somewhere in the middle. Current Tank Info: tore them down to move and haven't had the time or money to set them back up

01/28/2007, 07:49 PM	#3
Coralz Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: MI Posts: 15	I took the sea hare and the worm out of my tank. Will this affect my tank or anything?