gorgonian parasite?

[Phyllia131]

Anyone know what this brown thing is? At first I thought it was an egg casing of some sort, but it opens up when I feed. It has overlaping cillia that look like a venus flytrap when it opens up. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that blueberry looks pretty dead, huh?
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[RicksReefs]

wing oyster. could be Pteria colymbus

while aggravating to the surrounding polyps, it shouldn't kill the gorg.

 

[Phyllia131]

Did that kill the bluberry?

 

[RicksReefs]

unlikely, with recession from the tips down, my guess would be starvation, which is common with many gorgs.

 

[Phyllia131]

So is there any reason for me to not keep the oyester. Ive never been one to just throw a live animal away. Unless theyre crickets.

 

[RicksReefs]

no, other than latching on to gorgs, they're harmless.

 

[Phyllia131]

Thank you. Do they grow much larger?

 

[RicksReefs]

I've seen some 3 inchers while diving the gorgonian patch reefs down here.

 

[Phyllia131]

Okay, I have it in a thre gallon with some mushrooms and 2" mantis. I'll make it a little project. Do you think it will be okay if I detacth it?

 

[RicksReefs]

if you just slightly pull it away from the stalk, you should see some translucent spider web looking threads (byssal threads), these you need to cut with a fresh razor blade in order to safely remove it. otherwise you'll likely damage the internal organs if you just pull it off.