Cream 2 mm Blobs with 2 antennae

[Buzz1329]

I've started noticing tiny critters on the front glass of my 180 after the lights go on in the morning. At first I thought they were coralline algae, but then noticed they were moving. They gradually disappear as day goes on. They're about 1-3 mm long, tannish/cream colored, with two antenna protruding from one end. I took some photos but all I get is blobs.

At first I thought they were baby snails, but I don't see shells. Can anyone point me to the site that has photos of common reef micro-critters? (Used to have it in my favorites, but my last laptop crashed, had to get a Windows 8 laptop (yech), and Windows EZ Transfer did not rescue my faves on Mozilla (sob).

 

[Buzz1329]

Bump

 

[pagojoe]

Probably too broad to get an answer without pics. Most of the reef ID sites aren't likely to have pics of animals smaller than flatworms, so your best bet is to start Google searching for things that look like your animals.

Cheers,



Don

 

[Buzz1329]

Thanks pagojoe,

One of my kids has the latest iphone. I'll lure him over here with some beer and get him to take some photos.

 

[Swip]

Stomatella snails maybe?

 

[Buzz1329]

Stomatella snails maybe?

Not grasping at straws here, but the photos of stomatella snails I found on Google certainly look like what I'm seeing in my tank, especially the two antenna at the "head" of the critter.

If so, yay! :dance:

Thanks.

 

[Calappidae]

Stomatellas seem to be a thing lately around here in the invert threads it wouldn't surprise me if that's what this is.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Sorry to hear your laptop crashed. That's a pain. Is this the hitch hiker site you meant? It's pretty good.
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchhikers.html

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Or this one is really good too
http://www.worldwidereefers.com/forums/showthread.php?4768-Hitchhiker-id-guide

 

[Buzz1329]

Looking at them through a 14x glass lens (B&L Coddington Magnifier, they are definitely snails. Although I can't get a top view because they are facing the glass, I can see what appears to a shell out of which the elongated body of the animal protrudes. They have two black specks on the face, which I assume are eyes, and look a lot like the photo of a baby stomatella snail in this thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=949582

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Collonista snails?

 

[Buzz1329]

Collonista? Don't like the sound of that. Might be wishful thinking but I don't think they are. All of the photos of Collonistas online, even photos of "baby" Collonistas show a clearly defined shell, while the buggers on the front glass of my tank look very much like the photo of the Stomatella in the thread I referenced (that's assuming it IS a Stomatella). Also comparing the photos in Ron Shimek's Reefkeeping article, the shape of my critters is much more like the Stomatella than the Collonista. Also, Shimek notes that Stomatellas' "shell shape precludes their retraction into the shell" This is also consistent with my critters whose elongated bodies definitely could not fit into their shells. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and will keep an eye on them as they develop.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/

 

[rssjsb]

Collonista? Don't like the sound of that.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/

They're probably stomatella, but just posting to say that you needn't worry about collonistas - they're algae grazing good guys. That article doesn't really say otherwise, just that they can displace other grazers. I've never had a problem maintaining population of collonistas and stomatellas.

 

[Buzz1329]

They're probably stomatella, but just posting to say that you needn't worry about collonistas - they're algae grazing good guys. That article doesn't really say otherwise, just that they can displace other grazers. I've never had a problem maintaining population of collonistas and stomatellas.

Good to know. The reason I was concerned was that I read a thread or two about collonistas reproducing so fast that they fouled pumps. I guess these were anomalous situations.

Thanks,