jlinzmaier
Premium Member
I've been dealing with tissue recession and lack of PE on several corals. After some dips I found (what I think to be) some flat worms that I was quick to call AEFW's; however, I did find some on a birdsnest also. That made me doubt my initial conclusion.
Thought about it all night, and becuase of their size and presence on corals other than acros, I'm just not entirely convinced I'm dealing with AEFW's.
I woke up this morning and took some pics through the microscope.
Here's a pic with no magnification and a penny to reference their size. I have never found any larger than that.
Here are some pics under 10X magnification. The little critter was still swimming inside the drop of water at this point (towards the lower right corner).
Still in 10X magnification but not swimming anymore. Once they stop swimming they take on the oval shape just like the pics that everyone else has posted when I ask for pics of AWFW's. They aren't entirely oval in these pics yet but after some time of not moving they form a nice oval. When they swim or crawl they become quite elongated (double their length) and develop the little tail at each side behind them (slightly seen in the first magnified pic).
Here is a pic under 100X magnification
Tonight, after dipping several more corals in revive I'm quite confident these are not AEFW's. This makes me quite happy after hearing how tough AEFW's can be to defeat, however, that means I need an ID on some new critter.
I dipped a branching monti, stylo, red planet frag, turaki frag, FAVIA COLONY, AND A CHALICE colony. All had these little critters come off. I was also entirely unable to find any eggs on any of the corals after quite a great deal of examination.
After dipping the corals these critters seem to free swim quite easily and also crawl when attached to a surface. When swimming they develop little tails (one on each side making them shaped like a rocket). You can kind of see that rocket shape in the first pic but it is even more pronounced when they are swimming in more water.
So my next few questions are:
What the heck are these things?? (Are they even flatworms??)
Are they predatory or just a common critter found on/near corals that are harmless??
Depending on the answer to the first two questions, the 3rd question would be how to get rid of them.
Hmm... This all came from a simple question of how to increase polyp ext. LOL!! Maybe a blessing in disguise.
I should also add, that upon examination of them under the microscope last night, they appeared to be covered in cilia. After poking at them with a pin (in an attempt to get an underside view) they were found to be quite fragile and easily broke off chunks of what looked like the cilia. Maybe it was the animal breaking apart and not just the cilia - really tough to tell.
Tomorrow I'll try taking video through the microscope to show you what I think are cilia. They appeared to be little hairs and were continually moving and waving quite fast.
Thanks.
Jeremy
Thought about it all night, and becuase of their size and presence on corals other than acros, I'm just not entirely convinced I'm dealing with AEFW's.
I woke up this morning and took some pics through the microscope.
Here's a pic with no magnification and a penny to reference their size. I have never found any larger than that.
Here are some pics under 10X magnification. The little critter was still swimming inside the drop of water at this point (towards the lower right corner).
Still in 10X magnification but not swimming anymore. Once they stop swimming they take on the oval shape just like the pics that everyone else has posted when I ask for pics of AWFW's. They aren't entirely oval in these pics yet but after some time of not moving they form a nice oval. When they swim or crawl they become quite elongated (double their length) and develop the little tail at each side behind them (slightly seen in the first magnified pic).
Here is a pic under 100X magnification
Tonight, after dipping several more corals in revive I'm quite confident these are not AEFW's. This makes me quite happy after hearing how tough AEFW's can be to defeat, however, that means I need an ID on some new critter.
I dipped a branching monti, stylo, red planet frag, turaki frag, FAVIA COLONY, AND A CHALICE colony. All had these little critters come off. I was also entirely unable to find any eggs on any of the corals after quite a great deal of examination.
After dipping the corals these critters seem to free swim quite easily and also crawl when attached to a surface. When swimming they develop little tails (one on each side making them shaped like a rocket). You can kind of see that rocket shape in the first pic but it is even more pronounced when they are swimming in more water.
So my next few questions are:
What the heck are these things?? (Are they even flatworms??)
Are they predatory or just a common critter found on/near corals that are harmless??
Depending on the answer to the first two questions, the 3rd question would be how to get rid of them.
Hmm... This all came from a simple question of how to increase polyp ext. LOL!! Maybe a blessing in disguise.
I should also add, that upon examination of them under the microscope last night, they appeared to be covered in cilia. After poking at them with a pin (in an attempt to get an underside view) they were found to be quite fragile and easily broke off chunks of what looked like the cilia. Maybe it was the animal breaking apart and not just the cilia - really tough to tell.
Tomorrow I'll try taking video through the microscope to show you what I think are cilia. They appeared to be little hairs and were continually moving and waving quite fast.
Thanks.
Jeremy
