Is this a bad flatworm?

[OrangeKoi]

I've seen a few of these.

This picture blows them up. They are about two thirds this size.
Yesterday I saw what looked like several smaller that were slightly different. a little more translucent and lighter colored.

It seems like they have crawled off somewhere as I can only see two altogether tonight.

They are very small. Less than a quarter of an inch long.

They are that color of the algea you get when you've had the lights on too much. I had a breakout of that and it is still bothering my mermaid hair algea. I turned many of the rocks over that had it on them. It is mostly gone.

The critters have little semi circles if a lighter color and they are so small that I can't tell what the edges look like. The picture may seem vague but that's the best I can do right now.

Is anyone familiar with these?

 

[Gundo5000]

Can you get a bigger pic? use photobucket to resize.

 

[OrangeKoi]

The creature is very small. I will try again but I'm afraid this is the best I can do. I will post tomorrow if I can do better.

 

[drummereef]

Check and see if they are on this page. Mouse over pictures for identification.

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/flatworm.html

 

[OrangeKoi]

No, they are more of a semi filled in horse shoe shape. The smaller ones are lighter colored than the larger which are more the color of the algea that I figure they were eating. It's a deep wine color. Their markings are more regular with a few contrasting (nearly white)semi circles inside then smaller dots or circles around the edges.I'm going down to see if I can get a better picture with the tripod.

 

[OrangeKoi]

I believe I got a better photo. I need to recharge my batteries before I caan work with it. It is still pretty small and the definition isn't too good as it is enlarged. These critters seem happy in algeaand seem to appear when I have extra algea hanging around. Although, I believe I may be running low as I just found a snail hanging off the maiden hair algea. I think the snail I bought might be a tad too large in addition to my other snails for this tank. :fish1: :twitch: Happy St. Patricks day! :beer:

 

[OrangeKoi]

better photo?

better photo?

Can you tell what it is here? There are two, one in the top right corner and one in the bottom left corner.

 

[LeslieH]

Sorry, now they're too fuzzy to make out. You could just send a couple to me preserved in alcohol and I'll id it for you.

 

[OrangeKoi]

Sure! Tell me what you need and how you want it done. Where shall I send them?

 

[LeslieH]

If they are flatworms they need to be preserved flat. Get them out of the tank using a pipette or brush. Put them on a plate with a little bit of sea water then put a flat bottomed small jar (or something else flat) on top of them. that will keep the worms flattened. Quickly flood the dish with a strong alcohol (rubbing alcohol, 150 proof vodka or white rum, Everclear, etc). You may have to lift the jar a little to get the alcohol under it. Leave them there for 10 minutes. After that put the worms into a small (pill bottle size or smaller) leakproof container filled with alcohol. That's it. Double or triple bag the container with ziplocks (the post office hates leaky packages). You can now send it regular mail to
Leslie Harris
Research & collections, Worms
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90007

 

[OrangeKoi]

You do realize that these guys are barely 1/4 inch long? Right?

 

[LeslieH]

sorry, I'm so used to working with small stuff that I forget not everyone is. Just throw a few into alcohol if the flattening technique seems too much of a bother. PM me your name & address & I'll send you a couple of the microtubes we use for this size animal. They're small enough to mail back in an envelope.

 

[BradsOcean]

use a leopard wrasse