Pix & ID: Critters that come in your rocks: the good and the bad.

[Shawn O]

Found this guy roaming in my tank today, any idea what he might be? I've only added a CUC and some frags I got from a buddy. He moved during typing so here's another pic.

He looks like a snail growing a new shell in his back. Any help is much appreciated!

 

[DDon]

Shawn O,
Looks like a stomatella to me. Good to have

 

[Big_Boss_77]

Shawn O,
Looks like a stomatella to me. Good to have

Actually that was my post and pic lol thanks for the answer

 

[DDon]

Actually that was my post and pic lol thanks for the answer

Yea I see that now, sorry about that.

 

[Big_Boss_77]

Yea I see that now, sorry about that.

All good, just glad it got answered

 

[Shawn O]

like to share this critter, found on some zoas on my lfs. I have no ID. lot of crabs in the sea...

Found it on the net, it's a Gaudy Clown Crab (Platypodiella spectabilis). In the Xanthid family from the Gulf Of Mexico. Gets to be about 1" in size. Have been seen on barrel sponges. Would be a pretty cool thing to make a species tank of.

 

[billy mitchell]

repost 3938 can anyone tell me what these are ??????

 

[dustinkimpel]

Found it on the net, it's a Gaudy Clown Crab (Platypodiella spectabilis). In the Xanthid family from the Gulf Of Mexico. Gets to be about 1" in size. Have been seen on barrel sponges. Would be a pretty cool thing to make a species tank of.

Careful with that crab! Just had a hitchiker take out most of my corals.
See thred:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2434346

 

[Shawn O]

Careful with that crab! Just had a hitchiker take out most of my corals.
See thred:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2434346

This crab is known to eat zoas. Reportedly, while the juveniles eat the polyps and then burrow into it to create a home, nobody seemed to have an answer to whether they would eat the zoas once reaching adulthood.

One poster has had one in their tank for six months and the crab has not been able to eat the corals fast enough to do serious damage. I would imagine if the tank had lots of zoas a few here and there may not be noticeable. Most who have found this hitch-hiker have chosen to put it into their sump or planned to set up a small tank just for this attractive little crab.

Since this crab is from the caribbean and has been coming in on caribbean live rock, I intend to buy this same type of rock since I want a couple of these guys. I'm curious enough about them that I will put some zoas in the sump (as soon as I have the need to start pruning the DT) to see what kind of damage they are likely to do. If it's a matter of them eating to make a burrow and then stop I see no harm it letting them build a home in the DT. If, however, they eat the coral until there's nothing left or the coral dies then they will definitely be a sump-dweller permanently. At the moment I'm of the mind that no one creature in the system is of more value than another (to a point). If a fish or invert occasionally takes a bite of the coral or eats a snail here or there it's okay. As long as the expensive fish aren't being eaten.

 

[Jimbo530]

i have minimized this trouble by only being able to afford small amounts of live rock and only buying a few choice pieces and species i want and wait for life to do what it does. GET OUT OF CONTROL. then add sum small frags fish or what you want. my way takes long time but for those who can wait i would say just buy a few GOOD pieces from a reliable aqua farm that produces it instead of harvest it. this also helps keep the real ocean beautiful.

 

[dustinkimpel]

ID? is this v snails and should I take action?

 

[DDon]

Yes it is a vermetid snail

 

[DDon]

Sorry didn't answer the second half of your question.
Some people leave them be and some try to get rid of them. They do multiply though and can end up with a bunch. They also let out slime threads for food capture. If you get a lot they can look ugly. If you want to get rid of it you can seal the end with superglue or a little ball of 2 part epoxy (use the reef safe stuff). That should kill it.

 

[dustinkimpel]

Thanks for the info... as soon as you said it i snipped it at its base.... hoping its dead lol

 

[BklynNewbie]

Was moving around some of the rocks and saw what looks to be a tiny star of some kind crawling in the sand. it looked like it tried to get on the glass but couldn't quite get up there so made it's way back into one of the rocks. Any idea what it can be even though it's so small?

 

[dragonfly1972]

It's a micro brittle star. Good to have. They don't get much bigger than a nickel.

 

[BklynNewbie]

It's a micro brittle star. Good to have. They don't get much bigger than a nickel.

Awesome... Thanks

 

[icoblentz]

Can someone ID this? Is it a vermatid?

 

[billy mitchell]

still trying to find out what these thread type of things are
want to know if they are reef safe or not
they are getting quite long around 4-6" on some
they are stuck to the glass and just wave in the current

 

[Wrightflyer2]

Coral ID?

Coral ID?

So..wife/kids insisted we take the step to saltwater...(I put up a show of resistance :dance

Short version...in the process of cycling the tank (time in shy 2 months) - so far we've got all the standard critters (almost all from live rock) and a few unknowns we look up and learn..
BUT...there is one we can't seem to ID...assuming it's a stony/hard coral?