Can someone ID?

[nuts590]

wow! That's all I can say... simply WOW! Got my first half of the package at the airport about 3 hours ago and am still amazed! Everything is in tank, just curious if someone can ID something for me... I don't have a camera that's worth a (*&# or I'd send a pic, but the best way I can describe this is about the diameter of a ping pong ball cut in half... it's a dense off white color with round 2-3mm "pore" looking things inside it.

I'm at a loss... for a reference it looks like a HUGE clump of snail eggs from a FW tank.

Any ideas would be helpful as it's on a side of the rock I'm about to stick face down into the sand, but don't want to unintentionally off a cool hitchhiker!

 

[hdtran]

Sounds like a sponge or tunicate.

 

[nuts590]

image at last

image at last

First things first, excuse the lousy photo, it's a $20 camera from wal-mart... I'm amazed it even works... quality is an issue I'll address after I recover from starting a reef...

Anywho... here's a pic (loads slow... cheap college servers... )

Just a quickie edit... the pointy bit at around 11 o'clock is a bit of shell from something else, not a part of the object in question...

 

[hdtran]

Second my own diagnosis--a sponge or tunicate. Filter feeder, non-photosynthetic.

 

[nuts590]

good stuff... thanks

 

[boyooso]

I don't know what those are. I have many, some are more white in color and some are more grey.

I am pretty sure they aren't sponges.

I am not sure if it is a tunicate either. They do not look like the the other tunicates I have in my tank. But the other tunicates I have in my tank look quite different from eachother too

All in All, it may be a sponge or a tunicate. But I am not convinced yet.

 

[nuts590]

after much thought and a quick whiff, whatever it is/was is no longer in my tank.

I knocked it off the rock when hunting a mantis last night, pulled it out and it looks like a largeish (1.25") snail of some form or another, almost like a lopsided cowrie with a very small overlapping slit running the length...

It smelled like a south jersey beach so I knew it was destined to move along out of my tank... so it, and it's twin friend on the back side of the same rock, both headed outward.

Wife and I did one of those "I really don't want to have to get rid of this because it looks cool, but I know it's just dead sponge..." rock cleanings tonight... as a bonus I got rid of two mantis shrimp while I was knocking the sponge off so all in all it's a good night!