Pix & ID: Critters that come in your rocks: the good and the bad.
- Thread starter Sk8r
- Start date
Tentacle in Crevice = Horror
Tentacle in Crevice = Horror
Hi guys, it's late and I can't sleep. This thing has me creeped out!
It looks like some kind of worms, it's sensitive to light and touch and the "tentacle" can extend as far as 2". I have a nano tank so that makes it comparatively HUGE. Yuck!
I've also included a youtube video of it when I tried to touch it with a chopstick...
http://youtu.be/JSB8KrV9wv4
Tentacle in Crevice = Horror
Hi guys, it's late and I can't sleep. This thing has me creeped out!
It looks like some kind of worms, it's sensitive to light and touch and the "tentacle" can extend as far as 2". I have a nano tank so that makes it comparatively HUGE. Yuck!
I've also included a youtube video of it when I tried to touch it with a chopstick...
http://youtu.be/JSB8KrV9wv4
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BillyBigReef
Member
What is this?
What is this?
This looks like a cactus! I hope I'm posting in the right spot I'm new.. anyone know what this is? It's growing pretty fast..... the top half was just a small bud last night.
:idea:
What is this?
This looks like a cactus! I hope I'm posting in the right spot I'm new.. anyone know what this is? It's growing pretty fast..... the top half was just a small bud last night.
BillyBigReef
Member
what kind of worm?
what kind of worm?
what kind of worm?
Reefer Kimberly, I think it is a eunicid worm but I'm no expert. The pic is from the Smithsonian Natural history website. I will try and link it here to the article and not just the picture. http://invertebrates.si.edu/palola/science.html
I found it by googling eunicid worms pics and clicked on the pic of this guy. I haven't found any more burrows or eaten corals since getting him out, so fingers crossed!
I found it by googling eunicid worms pics and clicked on the pic of this guy. I haven't found any more burrows or eaten corals since getting him out, so fingers crossed!
ReeferKimberly
Marley & Me
lol thanks! Worms are confusing :/ Half look the same. He looked just like that, it is possible he may not have had 5 tentacles but he looked the same with the little nubbin arms and threw off a bit of a rainbow sheen. Ah well. I just hope he did not come over when I switched tanks....but he probably did. I have not lost anything yet though so maybe he perished. He was fast, there was no chance of getting him in 70 pounds of LR. Thanks again guys!
Oh and this entire thread dissapeared last night for a while for me, I got worried!
Oh and this entire thread dissapeared last night for a while for me, I got worried!
RicanReefLover
New member
Joe0813 said:
I don't know but I would never go to the scary dark basement with the owner. The big fuge is probably not we has on his mind. lol
Posted from ReefCentral.com App for Android
cloak
New member
BillyBigReef
Member
I have the same thing on my live rock. curious myself as to what it is. mine aren't big enough to see if they move. have noticed two so far.
Zimmer
New member
They do move gently in the current but I've never seen any of them retract or move individually in a "feeding" manner.... I'm assuming they aren't a problem creature? I thought it was some crazy algae lol I was about to panic, but if it's just neat little filter feeders then I guess that's a good thing right?
GroktheCube
New member
I found a real odd duck last night, I'll see if I can sneak some pictures tonight, but someone might have an idea just from my description and its behavior.
It's an anemone that appears to be nocturnal. During the day, it is curled up completely within a hole through a piece of LR, entirely shielded from light.
Last night I saw it sticking pretty far out of the hole. Its body was only slightly slimmer than its mouth disk, which was just about 1.5" across. A perfectly pie-shaped slice of its mouth and mouth disk was white, roughly 1/5th of the surface. The rest of the anemone was brown. It had fairly stubby tentacles with rounded tips, each about 1.5". After about 10 seconds in the flashlight, it started to withdraw.
I'm stumped. It's shaped and colored like a photosynthetic anemone, though it doesn't look quite like a mojano or aiptasia. The fact that it hides completely from the light, and that I haven't noticed it despite having this piece of LR in the tank for nearly a month (and I've done lots of flashlight hunting) suggests that it isn't photosynthetic. The short tentacles look like they wouldn't be all that good for prey capture.
Anyone have any ideas?
It's an anemone that appears to be nocturnal. During the day, it is curled up completely within a hole through a piece of LR, entirely shielded from light.
Last night I saw it sticking pretty far out of the hole. Its body was only slightly slimmer than its mouth disk, which was just about 1.5" across. A perfectly pie-shaped slice of its mouth and mouth disk was white, roughly 1/5th of the surface. The rest of the anemone was brown. It had fairly stubby tentacles with rounded tips, each about 1.5". After about 10 seconds in the flashlight, it started to withdraw.
I'm stumped. It's shaped and colored like a photosynthetic anemone, though it doesn't look quite like a mojano or aiptasia. The fact that it hides completely from the light, and that I haven't noticed it despite having this piece of LR in the tank for nearly a month (and I've done lots of flashlight hunting) suggests that it isn't photosynthetic. The short tentacles look like they wouldn't be all that good for prey capture.
Anyone have any ideas?
GroktheCube
New member
Thanks, I think I figured it out. It looks exactly like pictures I found of Neozoanthus uchina, only with a light stripe and dark face vs dark stripe and light face. My guess is either a subspecies, or something in the same genus.
Pics of N. uchina for reference
Reverse the dark and light shades, and that's pretty much exactly what I have.
Pics of N. uchina for reference
Reverse the dark and light shades, and that's pretty much exactly what I have.
