Invert ID

[jgranata13]

I thought there was a subforum specifically for IDing but I couldn't find it; Mods, feel free to move this if it's in the wrong spot.

I just noticed this thing tonight. I literally have no idea what it is.


I really want to prod at it lol, but I don't have a stick that can get at it since it's at the bottom. It's attached to the rock, and it looks like it has something in it. It doesn't appear to move.

Thanks

 

[jgranata13]

Ok so I decided to remove it for further observation, and I found that whatever it was, it was wrapped around a nassarius that I had just purchased today. I know the picture I posted wasn't that high quality in terms of the thing itself, but that was the best quality Tapatalk would let me post. I would say that the pattern looks similar to what's in this picture: http://media.extreme-aquatics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/100_9289.jpg

I put the snail, with what I suspect to be a flatworm around it, in a container. The thing is, when I looked in the container, I couldn't really see any traces of the worm. When I looked back in the tank, the part that was holding onto the rock still seemed to be attached. Since I was wearing rubber gloves, and I wasn't sure if what was left could survive or not, I just mushed it up to make sure it was dead. Please tell me I did the right thing and that they're not poisonous/carry their eggs on their backs like cockroaches.

It makes sense that it's a snail predator, whatever it is, since I've basically lost all of my snails (I'd wake up and find the shells completely empty). This poor nassarius isn't completely gone yet but it's definitely dead (it's all mushed up in it's shell).

If anyone can point me in the direction of what species of flatworms to research, it would be much appreciated. Do these things generally reproduce in aquaria or is it possible/likely that it was a single specimen? Again, thanks.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

It's a polyclad flatworm. They eat snails and mollusks.

 

[jgranata13]

Thanks - I was up until 5 AM last night researching and I came to the same conclusion