Help ID these creatures Please. W/Photo

[krafty]

I had these creatures show up on the glass of the aquarium recently.

Can you please help me figure out what they are?

Thanks!

 

[Bebo77]

do they have a shell? kinda like your finger nail?

 

[krafty]

Its a little hard to tell on the shell...

I should have mentioned that these creatures are very very small. They are something like the size of a large bread crumb.

Thanks,

 

[saltycreefer]

Harmless planaria.

 

[krafty]

Can anyone else corroborate the "harmless planaria" story?

Just want to get a second opinion.

Thanks!

 

[greenbean36191]

Yep, they're flatworms.

 

[dc]

But are they harmless?

 

[Monkeyfish]

Flatworms.

They can reach plague proportions and some species eat corals. I'm no expert on planaria, but IMHO you best bet is to get rid of them - siphon them out during water changes or add a predator if they start to really multiply.

 

[greenbean36191]

Yes, they're harmless. No, they aren't the dreaded red flatworms.

 

[krafty]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9299198#post9299198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by greenbean36191
Yes, they're harmless. No, they aren't the dreaded red flatworms.

Can you give me an idea on the species? I would like to do some reading on them.

Thanks.

Josh

 

[matter1331]

a species ID might be pretty tough. I would just read up on flatworms in general, and read different sources too. What you'll find is the "dreaded red flatworm" is going to be the biggest enemy, most others are harmless and pose no threat. I actually have a ton of flatworms (well maybe not that many) in my little 7 gallon and all of my corals are great.

 

[krafty]

yeah...they seem pretty innocous at the moment. they just hang out on the glass of my 125.

thanks for all of the replies.

josh

 

[H20Sidhe]

Your pic is a little blurry, no doubt because it is so small. Do your critters look like this?

How many do you have, (less than 5, 10-50, hundreds)?

 

[krafty]

No, they dont look anything like that. I would say that despite the fact that the picture is blurry they pretty much look like the image.

As far as I can tell I have about 20 max...the population does not seem to be growing rapidly as of yet.

Thanks,

Josh

 

[LeslieH]

H20Sidhe - That's something very different. Looks to me like the arm of an Asterina starfish. Give it enough time & it will regrow the missing portions of the body.

 

[H20Sidhe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9331412#post9331412 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LeslieH
H20Sidhe - Looks to me like the arm of an Asterina starfish. Give it enough time & it will regrow the missing portions of the body.

You are exactly right.

 

[kmk2307]

Could that be an isopod or amphipod? I have seen some sort of flattened crustacean that has large (umm...) anterior appendages...

Just a thought,
Kevin

 

[ChiiBear]

Can someone tell me what this is. A worm or bug? Is it harmful? I'm pretty new to reef keeping. I found quite a few of them on the mushroom a few weeks back. I dipped the mushroom in Lugol solution and killed most of them. They started showing up on the mushroom again and on the tank wall as well. They don't seem to bother mushroom though. I have 10 sps frags and 1 clam in the tank as well for 2-3 months, did not notice anything wrong.

 

[greenbean36191]

Those are harmless acoel flatworms too. Some that are usually identified as Waminoa (which may or may not be a good ID) are common on mushrooms and seem to be commensals. There is no reason to be concerned about them or try to treat them.

 

[ChiiBear]

Thank you so much, greenbean36191!!