Pix & ID: Critters that come in your rocks: the good and the bad.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Harmless scypha sponge, aka pineapple sponge.

[marcusbacus]

ok thanks!

[AnselnEdie]

Two new occupants have appeared in my tank. I'm thinking that the first one is a strawberry anemone. Can anyone confirm or deny that I.D.?

hitcher2.jpg
hitcher3.jpg

Second one looks like maybe some type of algae, but it seems a little strange that it just popped out and stopped growing. It's just a bright green stalk about 3/16" long. There's a second one just like it across the tank, and they have both just stayed pretty much the same for at least a month now.

hitcher1.jpg

[cloak]

The second one appears to be neomeris annulata, a calcium-based algae. As far as the first one goes, my guess would be a ball-tipped anemone.

[Tristen]

I have a couple mushrooms(?) that suddenly appeared in my tank... I THINK they're mushrooms, but the stalk is a good three inches, so I don't really know.

Click for bigger images

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yes those are mushrooms. They're stretching for the light.

[Tristen]

Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia

Yes those are mushrooms. They're stretching for the light.

They hide in the LR at night

[mushlbh]

I got him! I am upgrading my tank and had to aquscape so I just pulled the rock out I thought he was in and did a FW dip. He din't come shooting out of the rock like I hoped he would but when I smashed the rock the next morning there he was!! I also got lucky and nabbed a PIA Gorilla Crab that has been in my tank. At this point I should be in the clear.

Totally unrelated question, in a month or so I will be ready to start adding some new corals and was wondering if you could recommend any of the on-line sites.

Thanks!

[ag09g]

What is this, a sea cucumber??

[SushiGirl]

Originally Posted by ag09g

What is this, a sea cucumber??

Yep.

[SushiGirl]

Ptyochromis, not ignoring you, I just don't know the answer to your question.
I would suggest starting a thread in the Invertebrates section. I usually leave non-common snail IDs to GerritM or PagoJoe.

[LeslieH]

Originally Posted by AnselnEdie

T
Second one looks like maybe some type of algae, but it seems a little strange that it just popped out and stopped growing. It's just a bright green stalk about 3/16" long. There's a second one just like it across the tank, and they have both just stayed pretty much the same for at least a month now.
Attachment 209863

Yes, it's a Neomeris although maybe not N. annularis since there are at least 7 species. I think they're pretty but they can rapidly take over a tank & are nearly impossible to get rid of at that point.

[ArrowCrab]

I'm going to assume this is a starfish. What kind is it, will it get big and start knocking stuff over?

[IMG]http://i48.*******.com/9ao32b.jpg[/IMG]

[Sugar Magnolia]

It's an asterina star. They stay that size. Generally harmless but some eat coral.

[marcusbacus]

Any chance to identify this crab? The pics don't help much but...





I saw him when I bought these 2 rocks, and he was crawling outside the rocks inside the package where they were shipped. I put him in the tank anyway even knowing that crabs can be dangerous. This was 5 weeks ago. So far, nothing has been damaged by him (no signs of any coral being eaten or messed up), he seems to live in that small cave, saw him other times nearby but today he was doing some cleaning taking the garbage out... he's mostly white, with a very faint sand-coloured body. No "hairs" or anything like a Mitraculus but it does look a bit like this, except for the green colour:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...628&pcatid=628

If it didn't make any mess yet is it possible that it stays like that and he's just filtering stuff and will not eat corals?

[ST1Doppelganger]

Found this on a shroom rock any ideals what it is.

[OKDOHK]

Hi marcusbacus. It's no emerald crab. Likely a crab in the Xanthidae family. Which really doesn't tell you a whole lot. Except for very generalized comments on Xanthids. However, most reefers would not keep such a crab in their tank because of the potential harm they can cause. Your safest route is to remove the crab. If you choose to remove the crab take some photos of a top view, front view, and one that shows its claws. Post your photos. At that point someone may be able to help with an identification.

[marcusbacus]

The right claw definitely is white, the others I can't remember. Its size is about 1" the most, and it's very "flat" and from what I can remember it didn't have any rough surfaces or spikes or something like that.

[SushiGirl]

St1, it looks like my pagoda cup coral.

[ag09g]

These little white ovals have started appearing on all of my rocks and maybe my glass too (though the ones on the glass are significantly smaller). Theyre flat and immobile, just curious if anyone has seen this before

Also I asked over a month ago about these strange growths on a piece of liverock that I couldnt ID, well I came home last night and found something exciting that confirmed a suspicion I had about them....Snake polyps! Apparently pretty hardy little things because this rock has been through at least 3 different cycles now....

[SushiGirl]

Nerite snail eggs.

[ag09g]

Yep that would make sense - didnt appear until I added a CUC!

[pinchiegringo]

Three things... what's the little critter in the middle (whitish thing) and then what is the pink and purple stuff also?

Tia

[bigehugedome]

Hello, In the middle of my cycle and this is growing on my base rock after I bought LR and added it. Its growing very fast. It has got to this size in about a week. Im concerned it is Bryopsis, but cannot be sure. I was going to leave in for CUC but if its Bryopsis I would like to start attacking it asap.

Thanks

[SushiGirl]

pinchie, the white is probably sponge, but it's hard to tell.
If the dark purple stuff is soft & comes off easily, it's cyanobacteria. If it's hard & doesn't come off, it could be coralline. The light pink/purple is coralline.

bighugedome, it does look like bryopsis.