Strangest Hitch Hiker you have ever seen, ID?

Appaloosa1224 · 09/23/2007, 11:50 AM

I was pulling out some baby Kenya trees yesterday in my tank when I found this guy stuck inside a hole underneath another rock. When I first saw him I thought it was a sponge, but it was moving rather fast! THe skin looks like that of an octopus, it has circles all over it, he does not come out of the hole completely, but he seems to be amorphus, and his "body" forms to the rock, he can get skinnier to go through a small opening, then after that get much larger. Its really hard to explain. He came farther out for a piece of shrimp so it is probably carnivorous. I tried to get picture of him, but they didn't turn out well. I also took the rock that he was in into the LFS, they all agree it was the strangest thing they have ever seen, it was kind of tempting to break the rock open, but didn't want to risk hurting it. So here are the pictures, they are blurry, but you can see the gray blotch, thats him. Any ideas? I'll see if I can get better pictures today.

skippy2 · 09/23/2007, 12:24 PM

Can't help but want to bump to the top for you.

SeaHorsie*03 · 09/23/2007, 01:03 PM

I can't really tell where it is, is it inside that hole in the rock??
You should see if you could get another picture

OnoIgotICH · 09/23/2007, 01:03 PM

What happens when you touch it?

Appaloosa1224 · 09/23/2007, 01:16 PM

yeah,its inside that hole, the grayish mass around it is its "body". I'm not at home right no, but will try to get another picture tonight.

I didn't touch it with my hands in case it is venomous but i touched it with a shrimp and it holds onto it so you can pull it out a bit. it will also come farther out if you touch it but don't let it get ahold of the shrimp.

it also does not seem to like light, it would not come out under the halides at the LFS, but will under normal flourescents and my PCs.

davidryder · 09/23/2007, 02:10 PM

Can you get a clearer picture? Maybe it's something from the abyss.

StunnaShadez · 09/23/2007, 02:35 PM

i needa subscribe to this thread and see how this turns out

Appaloosa1224 · 09/23/2007, 02:44 PM

apparently one of my crabs has become fixated on this guy as well, i was on the phone with my dad and he said one of my hermit crabs sat in front of this guy for 2 hours. I will definately get better pics of this tonight, it really is amazing. maybe a video too if hes moving.

Appaloosa1224 · 09/23/2007, 09:38 PM

I took pictures of the "creature" tonight. The lights went off and i used a shrimp to lure it out. The pictures are taken with a flash. You can see the pattern adn the color is accurate. My best guess is it is some kind of cephalopod, I may send the pictures to one of the marine science professors here at UGA,I'm really curious as to what it may be.

aztbs · 09/23/2007, 09:47 PM

I am pretty positive that what you have there is a polyclad flatworm. It looks very much like the one I pulled out of my tank a few months ago. It was in a hole just like that. Here are a few pictures of it in a cup, the tears/guts are from my battle to get it out, which involved breaking the rock:

They are carnivores, so I didn't trust it in my tank. Another reefer took it from me and never saw it again.

reefer1024 · 09/23/2007, 09:57 PM

I have no idea what that is, but I am very curious to find out. I notice in the last picture there is a small protrusion sticking out from the upper left. Is it trying to grab the shrimp? Is it attached to the rock or just laying over it. Is there anything else you can tell us about it that we cant make out from the picture. Can you see a mouth or anything?

Edit: you snuck that post in wile I was writing mine. Looks like we have a winner.

Appaloosa1224 · 09/23/2007, 09:59 PM

wow, that is exaclty what it is! i'll do some research and decide whether to take it out of my tank. i have had one fish disappear and wonder if thats where it went! maybe i can find it a new home.

HBtank · 09/23/2007, 09:59 PM

Looksa like AZTB nailed it.

From what I have read, people generally get rid of them when found and they are considered destructive.

m2434 · 09/23/2007, 10:12 PM

That's really cool. I'm sure it's very deatructive, but it would be a shame to toss. If you have a sump throw it in, or maybe get a little pico tank for it or something.

Appaloosa1224 · 09/23/2007, 10:21 PM

i think i'll post this to the local reef clubs and see if anyone wants it, i can not bring myself to kill it, its too beautiful

Appaloosa1224 · 09/23/2007, 11:54 PM

PM sent aztbs

uscharalph · 09/24/2007, 12:18 AM

Cool. It amazes me all the new things I see in my tank and my fellow reefer's tanks.

StunnaShadez · 09/24/2007, 02:15 AM

that thing looks CRAZY in that hole!

PmPrepGuy · 09/24/2007, 05:44 AM

things like that just make you not wanna dig your hands around in our tanks without thinking twice >.< lol

rlee81indy · 09/24/2007, 07:06 AM

Wow that pretty wild, have you decided whether to take it oout or not? You should phto document the process if you do

techreef · 09/24/2007, 10:42 AM

i also agree with the polyclad flatworm ID. I yanked one out of my tank that was nearly 3" in diameter. I was told that they prey on snails, which matched with my declining snail populations in my tank. cool looking, but i didn't want it in my tank.

Appaloosa1224 · 09/24/2007, 10:45 AM

well it has disappeared in my tank. i haven't been able to keep snails for years so this is likely the reason, i've lived without snails for long enough and i think this guy is pretty cool so i'll leave him be for now.

Shift_9k · 09/26/2007, 01:39 AM

It looks like it would prey on clams, usually things look like what they eat and looks very close to a pattern you would see on clams.

09/23/2007, 11:50 AM	#1
Appaloosa1224 Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 282	Strangest Hitch Hiker you have ever seen, ID? I was pulling out some baby Kenya trees yesterday in my tank when I found this guy stuck inside a hole underneath another rock. When I first saw him I thought it was a sponge, but it was moving rather fast! THe skin looks like that of an octopus, it has circles all over it, he does not come out of the hole completely, but he seems to be amorphus, and his "body" forms to the rock, he can get skinnier to go through a small opening, then after that get much larger. Its really hard to explain. He came farther out for a piece of shrimp so it is probably carnivorous. I tried to get picture of him, but they didn't turn out well. I also took the rock that he was in into the LFS, they all agree it was the strangest thing they have ever seen, it was kind of tempting to break the rock open, but didn't want to risk hurting it. So here are the pictures, they are blurry, but you can see the gray blotch, thats him. Any ideas? I'll see if I can get better pictures today.

09/23/2007, 12:24 PM	#2
skippy2 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: S.W. Michigan Posts: 3,205	Can't help but want to bump to the top for you. __________________ Peggy Current Tank Info: no tank

09/23/2007, 01:03 PM	#3
SeaHorsie*03 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 78	I can't really tell where it is, is it inside that hole in the rock?? You should see if you could get another picture __________________ :fish2:

09/23/2007, 02:10 PM	#6
davidryder Claris or Elliot? Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Nightopia Posts: 2,750	Can you get a clearer picture? Maybe it's something from the abyss. __________________ A rolling stone gathers no moss... Current Tank Info: 90g mixed reef, corner overflow (Mag 9.5), 25g refugium (Mag 5), 15g refugium, Orbit 260w pc, Pan World 50PX-X (Closed loop), AquaC EV-120 (now skimmerless)

09/23/2007, 09:59 PM	#13
HBtank Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Huntington Beach, CA Posts: 2,957	Looksa like AZTB nailed it. From what I have read, people generally get rid of them when found and they are considered destructive. __________________ 80g Aiptasia dominated reef tank.. with fish and now a bunch of berghia! Current Tank Info: 80g tank, re-starting a reef after a zoanthid nudibranch plauge, followed by months of steady and unstoppable STN/RTN, crashed; stayed FOWLR for a couple years, currently an aiptasia dominated reef tank with fishies and BERGHIA

09/23/2007, 01:03 PM	#4
OnoIgotICH Moved On Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 287	What happens when you touch it?

09/23/2007, 01:16 PM	#5
Appaloosa1224 Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 282	yeah,its inside that hole, the grayish mass around it is its "body". I'm not at home right no, but will try to get another picture tonight. I didn't touch it with my hands in case it is venomous but i touched it with a shrimp and it holds onto it so you can pull it out a bit. it will also come farther out if you touch it but don't let it get ahold of the shrimp. it also does not seem to like light, it would not come out under the halides at the LFS, but will under normal flourescents and my PCs.

09/23/2007, 02:35 PM	#7
StunnaShadez Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: sacramento Posts: 584	i needa subscribe to this thread and see how this turns out

09/23/2007, 02:44 PM	#8
Appaloosa1224 Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 282	apparently one of my crabs has become fixated on this guy as well, i was on the phone with my dad and he said one of my hermit crabs sat in front of this guy for 2 hours. I will definately get better pics of this tonight, it really is amazing. maybe a video too if hes moving.

09/23/2007, 09:38 PM	#9
Appaloosa1224 Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 282	I took pictures of the "creature" tonight. The lights went off and i used a shrimp to lure it out. The pictures are taken with a flash. You can see the pattern adn the color is accurate. My best guess is it is some kind of cephalopod, I may send the pictures to one of the marine science professors here at UGA,I'm really curious as to what it may be.

09/23/2007, 09:47 PM	#10
aztbs Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Chandler, AZ Posts: 4,492	I am pretty positive that what you have there is a polyclad flatworm. It looks very much like the one I pulled out of my tank a few months ago. It was in a hole just like that. Here are a few pictures of it in a cup, the tears/guts are from my battle to get it out, which involved breaking the rock: They are carnivores, so I didn't trust it in my tank. Another reefer took it from me and never saw it again.

09/23/2007, 09:57 PM	#11
reefer1024 Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lake Elsinore Posts: 940	I have no idea what that is, but I am very curious to find out. I notice in the last picture there is a small protrusion sticking out from the upper left. Is it trying to grab the shrimp? Is it attached to the rock or just laying over it. Is there anything else you can tell us about it that we cant make out from the picture. Can you see a mouth or anything? Edit: you snuck that post in wile I was writing mine. Looks like we have a winner.

09/23/2007, 10:12 PM	#14
m2434 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 2,171	That's really cool. I'm sure it's very deatructive, but it would be a shame to toss. If you have a sump throw it in, or maybe get a little pico tank for it or something. __________________ Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there. ~Richard Feynman

09/23/2007, 10:21 PM	#15
Appaloosa1224 Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 282	i think i'll post this to the local reef clubs and see if anyone wants it, i can not bring myself to kill it, its too beautiful

09/23/2007, 11:54 PM	#16
Appaloosa1224 Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 282	PM sent aztbs

09/24/2007, 12:18 AM	#17
uscharalph Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 1,248	Cool. It amazes me all the new things I see in my tank and my fellow reefer's tanks. __________________ Ralph Mendoza Jr. Long Beach, CA Current Tank Info: 80 Gallon Reef Tank

09/24/2007, 02:15 AM	#18
StunnaShadez Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: sacramento Posts: 584	that thing looks CRAZY in that hole!

09/24/2007, 05:44 AM	#19
PmPrepGuy Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 126	things like that just make you not wanna dig your hands around in our tanks without thinking twice >.< lol __________________ Jeremy Current Tank Info: rebuilding my 75g

09/24/2007, 07:06 AM	#20
rlee81indy Moved On Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Fort Carson, Co. Posts: 305	Wow that pretty wild, have you decided whether to take it oout or not? You should phto document the process if you do

09/24/2007, 10:42 AM	#21
techreef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montclair, NJ Posts: 1,046	i also agree with the polyclad flatworm ID. I yanked one out of my tank that was nearly 3" in diameter. I was told that they prey on snails, which matched with my declining snail populations in my tank. cool looking, but i didn't want it in my tank.

09/24/2007, 10:45 AM	#22
Appaloosa1224 Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 282	well it has disappeared in my tank. i haven't been able to keep snails for years so this is likely the reason, i've lived without snails for long enough and i think this guy is pretty cool so i'll leave him be for now.

09/26/2007, 01:39 AM	#23
Shift_9k Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chicago Posts: 278	It looks like it would prey on clams, usually things look like what they eat and looks very close to a pattern you would see on clams.