Flatworm ID

lvpd186

Reefing in NE
Can anyone id this kind of flatworm? I have tried to research if it was a bad type. The most I could come up with is the bad ones are usually the red types or have three "tails" for lack of a better word. I have found a total of four of them in my refugium, but I haven't found any of them anywhere else. Any help would be appreciated! :D

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Thanks, I think I found a photo there that matches. Here is what it said (if anyone else was curious about them):

This tiny creature is a Flatworm - Amphiscolops sp. This type is virtually clear, and quite small. The rounded end is inflated like a sail, and stretches in the direction it wants to travel, then like a suction cup it grabs the glass and pulls the rest of its body that direction. This is a benign type and you shouldn't worry if you see any in your tank. I've seen them on and off in reef tanks as well as refugiums. Second image. Reef-safe.
 
i would smash it if i were you

Why? If they are reef safe and only eat some copepods (which there are tons of in my refugium) why bother. I did however take the four that I found out of the tank prior to finding out for sure what they were. I'm sure its one of those things where you see one and not the 10 others that are still in there. The reason for my post was to make sure I didn't have to take any drastic steps like flatworm exit or some other kind of treatment. Thanks for all the replies. :)
 
Amphiprion: It was my understanding that they are detritus and film algae eaters, I would like to research if you have a reference mentioning they eat copepods will you please link me to it?
 
If it helps the only place I've seen them is on the glass where there is film algae (I don't clean the glass on the refugium). I can also say that copepods are all over the glass as well and I never saw the flatworms bothering them.
 
No references :( . I had quite a population in a seahorse tank and watched them envelop copepods and small isopods and eat them. It had a huge copepod population, but apparently there were never enough flatworms to put a dent in it. There are some nonscientific 'references' in some places, namely WetWebMedia. I was curious and had heard the same before (detritus and film algae), myself, until I noted that. I wish I could find some official references, but I can't find any that mention anything at all about their diet. The only thing I could find was on reproductive behavior and nitrogen and phosphorus allotment to the dinoflagellate symbionts of certain species that actually have them.
 
Different flatworms, different diets. I don't think either lvpd186's or Melev's flatties are Amphiscolops which are typically thicker, opaque, and shaped like a clovis point arrowhead - rounded at one end, straight sided, and forked at the other end. This one - whatever it is - is different and it feeds on copepods whenever possible.
 
Re: LVPD186

Re: LVPD186

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9310077#post9310077 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefWraith
That would be a Acoel flatworm.... a harmless algae eater... see bottom of this page for a PICTURE

thats a common name for Amphiscolops sp.. no matter what you call them they are pretty much harmless unless you are a copepod :).
 
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