Please ID...Zoa Eating Nudi?

[alaskan84]

So ive had an issue with two of my zoa colony rocks that seem to be very slowly losing polyps..i do a very thorough coral rx dip on every piece of coral that goes into my tank(except the live rock itself). I have been examining the tank each night in hopes of finding the culprit but have had no luck until last night. I snapped a quick shot of this guy, but didnt have time to fish him out. No sign of him this morning. Hes very odd looking IMO, has a smooth looking back like a flatworm, but the pattern is nothing like an of my other flat worms....and it has feet, like a pod...but again this is NOTHING like any of my other pods. It was moving VERY slowly along the rock last night. Its whit/grey with darker splotches on it and what appears to be a 3 forked/pronged tail....I have seen the flatworms with the forked tails, and this is very different, the 3 forks actually look like they are protruding 3d from the guy.....any help is appreciated

 

[organism]

That's a brown flatworm, not fun to have but they don't eat any corals, just light

 

[alaskan84]

but its not brown.....I'm not referring to the brown splotch....i'm referring to the grey mottled/splotched creature with a 3 fork tail above the brown patch(thats actually just corraline of a different variety). He blends into the rock nicely.....shall I try to circle him?

 

[KafudaFish]

Kind of looks like a mole crab but they live in the sand.

 

[alaskan84]

the more I look at the pic of this thing...the more i realize its not quite like anything ive seen before...the 3 tails or forks or whatever they are are definitely towards the *** end of the thing.

 

[alaskan84]

Mole crab....interesting I've never heard of them before! I'm fairly certain its not a mole crab, but the shape is actually really similar, just much smaller in size.

 

[DEEC77]

Not sure. Maybe ask Shushi? She's great IDing at hitch hikers.

~Dee~

 

[Ann Marie]

Looks like a Sphaeromatid Isopod to me.

 

[alaskan84]

would there be a better subforum for this to be in? It doesent seem like there is a general ID area around here.

 

[alaskan84]

Looks like a Sphaeromatid Isopod to me.

interesting, thanks for the possibility....that would explain the tri fork looking thing at the tail end, and the legs, but unfortunatly not the receding zoas:mad2:. I'm going to do a little more reading specifically on the Sphaeromatid's after work.....seems there are so many variations of isopods.

 

[Lytehouse]

everything points to Stomatella varia but the odd back leg looking things.

 

[SushiGirl]

Doesn't have the curl on the shell like a stomatella. That said, I've got no clue LOL.

 

[alaskan84]

3 fork

3 fork

For those of you that are curious, i think ive gotta give it to ann marie....at least 50% because I definitly have some Sphaeromatid's in here as well.

right when i came home from work I found this guy on the glass, who is different than the one photo'd above(i'm just rolling in new(to me) amphipods):eek2:

Then about 2 hours later I found one of the same 3 pronged tail varia..both on the glass this time. Now they both very well may be sphaeromatids, and ann marie gets 100% credit for the ID. I just know this guy looks a little different, but same color and general shape.

and a second shot of the same one

Since they are more than likely just pods, i suppose they probably arent eating my zoas....although I have read the posts of people that think theyve got MONSTER ZOA EATING PODS. Ive got a pretty cool hd video showing how fast their legs were moving if anyone cares for a link.

 

[SushiGirl]

I've seen pods like the first one, but not with the 3 prongs. At least you got your ID!

 

[alaskan84]

yes, i'm glad its ID'd now....the more I look at it, I think that the 3 prong is identicle to the other one.....maybe just a different life stage, either they grow out or drop off at some point? And IMO they really look different from the glass view, and seeing them actually on a rock with a smooth rounded back as in the very first pic.

 

[alaskan84]

here is the HD video of him moving around....pretty interesting to me at least

 

[Ann Marie]

Nice photos!!

 

[alaskan84]

Thanks Ann Marie!

 

[SushiGirl]

Very cool, and yes it does look very different on the glass than on the rock!
Cool vid too!

 

[Lytehouse]

interesting and weird....

you are right though, not eating your zoas....

it could irritate them, if there are numbers of them coming out at night coming out to scavange.

bristleworms, and other critters, can do the same thing and have been accused of eating zoas,
when all they were doing was scavanging for food between the polyps and irritating the polyps.