Freeloader ID, Sea Cucumber?

[magnetar68]

I setup a new tank yesterday and found this guy this morning. Is he reef safe? Or should I remove it? I plan on having soft corals and the typical inverts (hermits, emerald crabs, cleaner shrimp) etc.

 

[LeslieH]

Sea cucumbers fall into 2 feeding groups - those that filter particles out of the water & ones that mop up detritus from the sand & rocks. Both are completely harmless & beneficial tank inhabitants.

 

[mscarpena]

It looks like it could be a nudibranch or it might be a filter feeding cuke. Does it put out tentacles like it is filter feeding or no??

 

[pagojoe]

I think it's a Stickypuss. (Leslie only misidentifies a nudibranch as a sea cucumber about 1 out 9,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times)

Cheers,



Don

 

[LeslieH]

9,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 identifications???? Just how old do you think I am, Mister!:hammer:

 

[pagojoe]

That was an extrapolation based on your estimated error rate....

 

[LeslieH]

Now you sound like husband who accidentally said "yes" when his wife asked "do these pants make me look fat?"

 

[pagojoe]

Lolll

 

[graveyardworm]

I had an identical cuke hitch hike in with a zoanthid order once. I put it in the display and would occasionally see it at night. It may still be in there.

 

[bidny]

It looks like a sand-sifting sea cucumber. Maybe Holothuria mexicana (donkey dung sea cucumber) or Holothuria atra (black sea cucumber).

I have one, and they are beneficial to the tank.