Pix & ID: Critters that come in your rocks: the good and the bad.
- Thread starter Sk8r
- Start date
Ok, just saw a few of these guys today, this being the largest. Couldn't get a decent pic but a video seems to show them well. They don't appear to eat at the zoa's but seem to sort of search over the rock...but if they are going to be a problem down the road I want to figure out how to get rid of them. They move pretty quick and their movements are more millipede like than centipede if that makes any sense. Thanks
http://youtu.be/1xHUfUzP0Z8
http://youtu.be/1xHUfUzP0Z8
JustinFromAL
New member
Not the best video to tell, but it looks like a Bristleworm. There's definitely some kind of unusual marking on it's back though. Check out google images for "Fireworms" and if it doesn't look like one of those it's probably some kind of Bristleworm variant.
I have bristleworms and have seen pics of fireworms and they honestly look nothing like this guy. He has no bristles that I can see, just legs. Sort of has white spots up his back and a thicker white band before his head. Looks to also have three faint stripes right before the white band.
Mr. Demeanor
New member
Just found these hitchhikers. Two red crabs and one spikey crab. The red ones have tiny pinchers but the spikey one has one larger pincher and although he is small now....
I trapped all three in my shot glass / mysis cube crab trap. Mrs. Deamenor wants them to go back in the tank.
I trapped all three in my shot glass / mysis cube crab trap. Mrs. Deamenor wants them to go back in the tank.
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JustinFromAL
New member
@JT - Weird, some kind of ribbon worm maybe?
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Mr. Demeanor
New member
I had a fish only fake decoration tank and inherited some rock with some intersting things. The entire tank is going to be replaced with a new 125 so I just have everything in their now. Its built into the wall and its a project I really have to plan out.
Here are the more "intersting rocks" with lots of "stuff". It is my understanding that this rock was quarried and wild seeded in the Gulf.
The orange fluffy stuff I think is a sponge. some of them came off and very quickly attached themselves where they landed on base rock though.
I have several of the Christmas tree worms in the second pic.
Here are the more "intersting rocks" with lots of "stuff". It is my understanding that this rock was quarried and wild seeded in the Gulf.
The orange fluffy stuff I think is a sponge. some of them came off and very quickly attached themselves where they landed on base rock though.
I have several of the Christmas tree worms in the second pic.
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SushiGirl
Premium Member
J2T, it looks like a bristleworm epitoke, but take a look here and see if you can spot it. Also google epitoke and see if that's it. Most people see those on the glass or swimming crazily in their tank.
Mr. Demeanor, not sure on the crab IDs, you can look here, but crabs are pretty hard to ID sometimes. Typically pointed claws mean they're predators and are more likely to do damage to things you don't want them to damage. More flattened or spoon-like claws (like emerald crabs) will graze on algae as well as other stuff. All are opportunistic, though, and if hungry will eat whatever they can. I keep my crabs well-fed.
The orange fluffy stuff I'm not sure about, but the 3rd pic is definitely sponge.
Mr. Demeanor, not sure on the crab IDs, you can look here, but crabs are pretty hard to ID sometimes. Typically pointed claws mean they're predators and are more likely to do damage to things you don't want them to damage. More flattened or spoon-like claws (like emerald crabs) will graze on algae as well as other stuff. All are opportunistic, though, and if hungry will eat whatever they can. I keep my crabs well-fed.
The orange fluffy stuff I'm not sure about, but the 3rd pic is definitely sponge.
Mr. Demeanor
New member
Thanks. I think I ma going to leave them for now as I am completely breaking this down and rebuilding soon.
I had looked through there but nothing really struck me as looking similar. Good news was I saw my coral beauty suck one up, so since they seem to just be scavenging off the rocks and the angel likes them I'll take them as free food.
ThanksMike_Noren
New member
Yeah, it's a bristleworm (polychaete). If you check you can see tentacles on the head, eyes, and even segmentation. It's stretching out from its burrow to graze algae on the rock, that behavior and the general look of the worm makes me think it's a member of the family Dorvilleidae. Occasionally they crawl out to find food and if yours ever crawl onto the glass it'll look similar to this. Incidentally the dark structures are its scissor-like jaws.
I cleaned the algae from the glass to get a better pic and they've now gone missing in action. Not sure if they fell prey to the crabs or pistol shrimps or just hiding out in the rock.
From what I could tell from looking at them from the side of the tank, they had two rows of short white bristles running the length of their body. If looking at them front-on they these rows of spikes/bristles were at approx 10:00 and 2:00 on a clock face.
This is the best I could get yesterday but I'll try again if they resurface.
Any wild guesses?
cheezischrist
New member
any i deas on a zoa spider trap? cheap frag in a spaghetti jar? cus shrimp in a glass got me every hermit in my tank and a hairy crab i wasnt expecting, but the spiders still bein creepy in his cave.
cheezischrist
New member
ha nevermind, coral banded shrimp 1, zoa spider 0. wish i could get a pic of the shrimp holdin the creepy little thing
