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

[Netta]

Hi guys. Just to be sure, these guys are good worms?
I'm thinking they are bristle worms, but I haven't seen any red bristle worm pictures.

[worm5406]

Yup bristle worms. My young ones look like that.

[SushiGirl]

You also have aiptasia on that rock.

johnc99, I don't think it matters much how it's placed as long as it gets some of that current so it can siphon food out of the water.

[GroktheCube]

Found what looks to be a small (~1cm) black stomatella with a fairly symmetrical oval shaped white shell. Any ideas what it might be?

Also, I've found a number of anenomes a bit too small to photograph. Generic brown zoox color, roughly 15 tentacles with white tips (but not balls). The tentacles seem to alternate the direction they're pointing, the first one angled away from the mouth disk, the next pointed almost straight up all the way around the mouth.

I was in there zapping some hydroids and the only two aiptasia HHers I've seen with kalk paste, and opted to let these live till I can figure out what they are. Sound like some sort of aiptasia or mojano that anyone has seen, or something else? They're definitely not ball anemones, and they don't look like aiptasia I've seen before, but I've never seen mojano in person.

[SushiGirl]

Lots of different aiptasia types. I know the kind you're talking about, kind of alternating tentacles. Just white tips or kind of striped? Either way I'd go with aiptasia.

I had a small black stomatella once that had white on the swirl part of its shell. I never did get a pic, and never saw it again, sadly. Would really have to see a pic to ID it. If it doesn't fit into the shell like a snail, I'd go with stomatella. There's a surprising variety out there.

[GroktheCube]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

Lots of different aiptasia types. I know the kind you're talking about, kind of alternating tentacles. Just white tips or kind of striped? Either way I'd go with aiptasia.

I had a small black stomatella once that had white on the swirl part of its shell. I never did get a pic, and never saw it again, sadly. Would really have to see a pic to ID it. If it doesn't fit into the shell like a snail, I'd go with stomatella. There's a surprising variety out there.

I initially thought it was a nudi white a white splotch, but it looks like a stomatella to me. I'll try to take some pictures, but its small enough that I doubt I can get much detail. I really need to get a reverse lens mount adaptor.

Just white tips on the little anemones. I'll probably go ahead and zap them tomorrow. I used a good 2ml of kalk paste to coat the hydroids today, so I don't want to over do it.

[SushiGirl]

A pic would be great, but I know it's hard with small stuff. If it looks like a slug & you can tell if it has a small shell on it then you can rest easy.

Most hitchhiking anemones are pests, you can usually count on it if they reproduce fast. I've had a very small nem for over 2 years that I've never ID'd and it's stil small & hasn't spread, so after a failed lemon juice attempt to kill it I just left it alone. It's really pretty with different colors in it, but you can only tell that frombad macro pics LOL.

[GroktheCube]

I should be able to get mediocre pics of him, but he's definitely a slug wearing a tiny shell backpack.

I have a fair number of tiny things that are either nems, hydroids, or feather dusters, many of them are too tiny for me to tell.

[SushiGirl]

Backpack! I love that! I almost never look at my tank without the magnifying glass I bought at Wal Mart. Eyes aren't as sharp as they used to be.

[GroktheCube]

Ok, here's the best pic I could get of the stomatella. He's almost a foot into the tank, and quite tiny, so I couldn't a very clear shot.



Also, here's my find of the day. Almost positive it's a Eunicid. He's kinda small to get a good picture. The amphipod on the bottom left is ~.5mm. The worm is very dark green, very large "feet" on every segment, and at least 4 very obvious white tentacles on the face.



I've got him in a critter keeper for now. I'm going to see about hooking up a reverse lens attachment converter to get a good pic of his face, but unless there's another kind of polychaete with face tentacles, I'm pretty sure that's what he is :-p.

[SushiGirl]

I can't tell on the snail. The edges look a little frilly like an elephant snail but they usually have that wraped around their shell. Could be either that or a stomatella, either way would be a good find. I can't tell anything on the worm.

[GroktheCube]

Are there any other polychaete worms with several long tentacles positioned around its face, pointing away from it other than eunicids?

[greene.phillip]

I've just one through all the results of anemone in this thread and haven't found a match. I just found this guy in my tanks that's about a month old. I have one isolated rock that had several aiptasia on it but this is the first time I've seen this guy. Doesn't look like anything I've seen in Aiptasia/Mojano pics so looking for some help. It's clear/white ish, quite small and tries to hide from light (I was using a flashlight while my moonlights were on). Thanks in advance.

[nanoreef heaven]

Originally Posted by greene.phillip

I've just one through all the results of anemone in this thread and haven't found a match. I just found this guy in my tanks that's about a month old. I have one isolated rock that had several aiptasia on it but this is the first time I've seen this guy. Doesn't look like anything I've seen in Aiptasia/Mojano pics so looking for some help. It's clear/white ish, quite small and tries to hide from light (I was using a flashlight while my moonlights were on). Thanks in advance.

Ball tip Anemone I believe

*Sent from my little corner of the reef. Nano nano!*

[SushiGirl]

Yep, ball anemone.

[greene.phillip]

Originally Posted by nanoreef heaven

Ball tip Anemone I believe

*Sent from my little corner of the reef. Nano nano!*

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

Yep, ball anemone.

So good or bad? I've read generally ok but can sting some corals. Should I try to get it out now or not worry about it?

[SushiGirl]

Depends on your tank. I'm apparently only one of 2 people in the world that have an invasion of them in my well-fed softy/LPS tank & I haven't managed to kill any yet. I'll be buying Aiptasia-X soon to start the war that started with 1 ball anemone. I have well over 50 in my 55 gallon (I'm afraid to count them, a year and a half ago I had 55 that I could see). They definitely sting corals.

[GroktheCube]

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

Depends on your tank. I'm apparently only one of 2 people in the world that have an invasion of them in my well-fed softy/LPS tank & I haven't managed to kill any yet. I'll be buying Aiptasia-X soon to start the war that started with 1 ball anemone. I have well over 50 in my 55 gallon (I'm afraid to count them, a year and a half ago I had 55 that I could see). They definitely sting corals.

Yeesh. Time to temporarily evacuate the coral and borrow a butterfly from the LFS :-p

[SushiGirl]

Not sure if they eat them or not, let us all know if they do. I've tried injecting all sorts of the usual aiptasia killing stuff & none of it has worked. Someone told me they had success with Aiptasia-X so I'm trying that next whenever I can get to the LFS.

[Netta]

Was the first part of this directed at me? If so, I was told that the stuff on the rock was green star polyp. That's why I bought it. Did I buy aiptasia?!

Originally Posted by SushiGirl

You also have aiptasia on that rock.

johnc99, I don't think it matters much how it's placed as long as it gets some of that current so it can siphon food out of the water.

[SushiGirl]

I just looked at it again, I think it's 2 stray star polyps to the right of the worm that looked like an aiptasia on my phone. Sorry!

[GroktheCube]

Pretty sure I found a jellyfish polyp. Is that what this is, or is it some other sort of cnidarian?

It's dead center in these pics, on top of the white dead rock. You may need to zoom in a bit to clearly see features. It's a small roughly spherical transparent shape under 1cm in diameter. There is a white tube with some projections running through the center, and a large number of fine tentacles near the bottom.

[SushiGirl]

Looks like one, but looks upside down.

[GroktheCube]

The tentacles are originating from the bottom, which I wouldn't expect.

Almost makes me wonder if its one of those species that asexually goes from medusa to planula. I believe that sometimes the medusa settles prior to being planulation in those species, but I'm not sure.

[SushiGirl]

It looks very much like the ones I had, but upside down. I wonder how the jellys get off of there that way? Mine would slowly rise up the tentacles using a pumping motion until they were free.