fungia produces amazing mucus net!!!

[small alien]

My little fluorescent green fungia produces one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my tank :eek1: and that is a mucus net so delicate and so carefully constructed, it completely boggles my mind. :hmm5: Here's my attempt at a photo.

It will produce one or two of these and can deploy and draw them in extremely rapidly. They are finer than the finest human hair with a single long filament flanked by extremely regular side filaments on one side of the main. Sometimes you can see a glob of mucus on the surface of the fungia, sometimes not. The first time I saw it was when just the moon lights were on. Now it comes out any ol' time.

Has anyone seen this? Can anyone describe how this organism constructs this amazing tool?

:wave: Cheers, paul

 

[Reef Bass]

Wow, that is neat. I've seen vermetid snails which extend and withdraw mucus nets to capture food, but that tops those!

Its delicate construction makes me think it's more of a variant on a sweeper tentacle than secreted mucus.

 

[ogiler]

it is not mucus it is like arms collect food wuth moon light or a harmless worm lives in fungia i am not sure but i think it is food collecting thing.

 

[Sk8r]

neat photo!

 

[small alien]

it is not mucus it is like arms collect food wuth moon light or a harmless worm lives in fungia i am not sure but i think it is food collecting thing.

I wondered if it was a worm that lived on, in or under the fungia. But there is often a little glob of goo on part of the top of the fungia and that appears to be where this structure emanates from.

Has anyone else seen anything like this?

Cheers, paul

 

[Sheol]

Looks like the feeder net of a Sphagetti worm. I have one in my tank living in some small rubble. Sometimes the area looks like cobwebs in need of dusting!
Its still a really cool shot, even if its something hitching a ride in your Fungia.

Sincerely,
Matthew

 

[small alien]

Thanks for chiming in, Matthew. Does the feeder net look exactly like this one?

Cheers.

 

[small alien]

Looking at some pics of spaghetti worm feeder nets, I don't think that's what this is.

I have read that fungia can produce mucus nets.

Anyone seen exactly this structure??? Do I have a magic fungia?

 

[Boomer]

That is not a worm or a mucus net but the tentacles of a benthic Platyctenida Coeloplanian Ctenophoran. Here are some attached to Caulerpa and star fish

 

[Sheol]

Paul,

Yes, it looks very much like that. I don't think its the Ctenomorphran, as that net shows more structure. Mine lives in a coral rock & every night produces its strands.
They are harmless, so far as I know.

Matthew

 

[Sheol]

Oops, Paul on careful re-examination of yours I noticed the horizontal extensions I missed before. i hereby retract my previous hypothesis as Boomer appears to be corect! Good call too, BTW.

Matthew

 

[lgndrympterry]

its not a food sweeper its sprem, thats how they breed the plate corals. Read it in a magazine once and they had pictures of that

 

[Boomer]

You need to go re-read that Those are comb tentacle and why they are often called comb jellyfish. Another pic

 

[Sk8r]

Interesting! Ctenophoran rings a bell, and now that photo makes sense...Thank you..

 

[small alien]

Ding, ding, ding, ding. We have a winner! :bounce1:

Boomer, what does the animal itself look like? So, it must be living on the underside of the fungia? Wow?!?

Here's an interesting tidbit about the tentacle's structure.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/vpwwf2k8cdc3v5lw/

 

[small alien]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Haeckel_Ctenophorae.jpg

 

[small alien]

From what I can find online, the body is kind of a glob of goo. I do see a glob of goo (looks kind of like rubber cement) on the fungia's surface sometimes. That must be the animal. So cool!!!!

 

[Boomer]

Nope it is not in any of those wiki pics

Go back and look at that star fish. See those "yellow" oval flat worm looking things ? That is the body of the animal of that species. Some have very small bodies. They usually look alike a small fleshy object with two humps. On yours try to follow the main shaft of the tentacle to its base and you may see it. There are two tentacle to each animal unless it has lost one.

What they are
http://faculty.washington.edu/cemills/Ctenophores.html




More pics

 

[Boomer]

Yes, looks like a glob of goo, rubber cement

 

[small alien]

I do see two tentacles sometimes though generally just one. I'll take another look for animal now that I know what I'm looking for.

The "glob of goo" is about 1" X 1/2".

Will this thing ever move or is it more or less permanently attached to the fungia?

Really appreciate your help, Boomer. And, though I didn't think it was possible, knowing this weird little critter is living in there makes me love me reef even more!

Cheers.